


A Rebirth, A Team, and A Fight

by DirectorShark



Series: The Adventures of a Supreme Being and Her Famous Friends [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Amora is a way better villain than Loki, Bruce is to be protected at all times, F/M, Looking at you Marzanna, Marzanna and Loki's adventure continues, Natasha isn't the scariest female in the room, Never underestimate Marzanna or Loki, Nick Fury is Not Amused, OFC - Freeform, Protective Steve Rogers, Sorry Not Sorry, Still Worldbuilding, Tags may have gotten out of hand, Thor Is Not Stupid, Tony and Marzanna get on like a house on fire, Tony could use a little sister, Took Cannon and Threw it Away, pre steve/tony, that will come later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-01-30 16:12:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12656988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DirectorShark/pseuds/DirectorShark
Summary: Loki wasn't dead but the last image burned into his mind was Marzanna screaming for him and trying to reach him. He is in a strange place and has no recollection how he got there or how much time has passed since he fell. The one things that pushes him to rise is his need to find Marzanna.Marzanna can't hate her new power yet it terrifies her. She has never had an issue controlling her power but now she doesn't dare return to Asgard for fear of harming those she loves. The only thing that keeps her moving forward is her faith that Loki will soon return to her.When Loki and Marzanna are reunited it isn't long before old enemies make new appearances, a realm needs the protection of its mightiest heroes, Captain America gets taught a valuable lesson in not underestimating one particular tiny woman, and the Hulk finds two people to call friends.





	1. Waking Up

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't read A Girl, A Trickster, and A Fall then I recommend you read that story before starting this one. This story is a direct continuation of that one. 
> 
> For all of you that have read it and are here for the sequel welcome and I hope you enjoy the direction I took. I will upload chapters every Monday but I have been known to upload chapters when comments are posted requesting the next chapter. *winks* I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. 
> 
> As always I don't own anything except Marzanna and Elizabeth Stark. If I owned Marvel Loki never would have been a Villain and Stony would be a thing.

The Other approached his master with news that he knew would please the Mad Titan. “The tesseract has awakened. It is on a little world…a human world.” The Other drawled.

“They wield its power but our ally knows its workings as they never will. 

She is ready to lead and our Chitauri will follow. The world will be hers, the universe yours!” 

The Other paused and grinned cruelly. “The humans…what can they do but burn.” 

Thanos gazed upon the Other and said, “Let it begin.”

*******  
When Loki woke up it was unexpected. Falling into the void was death. When Amora had pulled him from Marzanna’s grasp he had believed that he would die. 

Yet, being awake meant being alive and being alive meant he could find his way back to Marzanna. He took stock of his surroundings and realized that he was lying on a bed inside of a softly colored room. He could not sense any other presence around but he knew that someone had to have moved him here. 

As he started to get out bed he was hit with a wave of dizziness. Gritting his teeth he remained sitting upright. Once the dizziness passed he threw his legs over the side and stood up. He stumbled to the door and cracked it open. When it appeared that no one was outside the door he opened it fully and stepped through. 

There was a short hallway that led to a larger open room. Off the side of the large room was an area with different devices. Loki wandered into the area touching the various things there. 

As he was touching the flat-topped device with four raised spiral pads a voice interrupted his exploration. “That’s a stove and you should not be out of bed yet.” 

Loki’s eyes widened and he spun around nearly falling over himself in his haste. There standing at the threshold of the room was Marzanna. She was smiling at him and he knew that he had to actually be dead because there is no way she was here. 

Before he could stop himself he had moved and cupped her face in his hands. He stared down into her shockingly purple eyes and softly kissed her with every ounce of love he felt. When he felt her lips press against his and arms encircle his waist it was pure perfection. 

As they pulled back Loki couldn’t help but wish that all of this were real. He was pulled from his musing by her pinch to his arm. “Ow that…” He trailed off. If he felt pain that meant it was real. His eyes flew back up to hers. 

“You’re real?” 

She laughed, “Of course I am real. You go around kissing and being kissed by illusions very often?” Shaking her head she moved back into his arms and hugged him tightly. 

Marzanna had been waiting days for Loki to open his eyes. She had started to think that Queen Hela had lied to her and stolen Loki’s soul before she had regained consciousness. 

Upon returning from her last training session with Hela she had felt him moving around the house. It had taken everything in her not to burst in and wrap her arms around him immediately. Hela had warned her to take it easy at first because falling into the void would have greatly taxed his body. 

The only reason Loki had lived was due to his Jotun heritage and ability to survive extreme cold. Finding such a fearsome mage and warrior curiously poking at the stove had nearly sent her into a fit of giggles. It was damn good to see him doing more than breathing. 

She had not meant to startle him with her voice but the pure elation on his face when he turned made up for the momentary scare. 

Finally being able to wrap her arms around Loki allowed Marzanna to let go of the last bit of fear and grief that had accompanied his fall. She never wanted to fell like that again. 

The grief had been all consuming. It had blocked everything else from her mind, which is why she did not register the build of power until she exploded with it. At the moment she had exploded all that had been on her mind was Loki. When she came to it was to the voice of Queen Hela. She was laid on the ground with her arms wrapped around Loki. Hela had explained that there had been a ripple of power and shortly after she and Loki had appeared. 

Loki asking her what happened after he had fallen brought Marzanna out of her thoughts. “I will tell you what happened after you get back in bed.” Loki scowled at her but could admit to himself at least that he felt weak. 

He turned and slowly walked back to the bed he had woken up in with Marzanna following him. As he entered the room he looked around and noticed that it appeared she had been sitting by his bed while he had been unconscious. It made him wonder how long he had been out. He sat at the head of the bed and motioned for her to join him. When Marzanna crawled into bed and made herself comfortable he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. “Now tell me what happened.” 

She sighed but began to recount to him what happened. How once he had slipped from her grasp she had been consumed by grief and anger. The grief had consumed her entire mind and caused her to miss the beginnings of power building within her. How the power had built and built until it exploded. 

Then she told him of waking in Hel with her arms wrapped around him. “Queen Hela explained that when I appeared I did not look like myself but somehow she knew it was me. I was apparently made up almost entirely of energy and she had found it almost hard to be in my presence.” 

She stopped and he tightened his grip on her. “She further explained that after I requested safe passage in Hel and she granted it that I returned to my original form, collapsed to the ground beside you, and passed out.” He watched as Marzanna tightened and released her fist.

“I am not who I used to be.” She looked up at him and he saw fear in her eyes. Loki pulled her closer and shook his head. “Whatever happened doesn’t change who you are. I love you because you are Marzanna and that will never change.” 

She was clinging to him but he didn’t mind. Now that he was focused he could feel her power brushing up against and bleeding into him. It was addictive. He doubted she was even aware that she was doing it. Before he could ask her about it her whisper reached his ears. 

“You have been asleep for two weeks. I was afraid you were never going to wake up.” 

Marzanna whispered and trembled as she remembered her fear of losing him again. “I am right here.” He soothed. “I am not going anywhere.” Loki looked down at her and vowed that he would do everything in his power to avoid putting fear into this woman’s eyes again. Her expression when he fell would haunt him for years to come but this lingering fear made her look vulnerable and he couldn’t stomach that he put that look there. 

“Damn straight you aren’t.” She answered. “No matter what I will follow you wherever you go and bring you back.” Loki did not doubt her sincerity and since she had pulled him out of the void she could probably pull him out of anything. 

Her power continued to refuel his own but he could also see that Marzanna was exhausted. “How long has it been since you slept?” She looked away and refused to meet his eye when he softly gripped her chin. “Marzanna.” 

She sighed and thought about lying. “Lying to me will do you no good, Little One. How long?” She hadn’t realized she had said anything out loud. It was definitely past time to get some sleep. “I haven’t slept more than an hour or two a night since I brought us here.” 

Loki gasped. She had been awake damn near constantly since the fall. There was no way she should still be coherent. 

Then another thought stuck Loki. “Where is here, Little One?” He asked as he began rubbing circles into her back because he knew it would get her to sleep faster. She yawned and blinked sleepily. “We are on Midgard but the people here call it Earth.” That was the last thing she said before dropping into a deep sleep. 

He settled her further beside him and draped the cover over both of them but before he fell asleep he felt another presence enter the room. Loki’s barrier snapped into place as he prepared to throw a knife he had found under his pillow at the intruder. 

“Wait.” 

Loki remembered that voice. “Why are you in our room Queen Hela?” 

Hela looked him in the eye and then her gaze shifted to Marzanna. Loki couldn’t quite curb the reflex to hide her further beneath him. “I had come to see if she was okay but now that I know you are awake I would give you a warning.” 

Hela turned the full force of her gaze back to him. “That girl is more powerful than any being I have ever encountered and even though she would deny it her power is terrifying her.” 

Hela’s eyes took on a far away look. “Her power is going to attract the attention of Thanos. He is a being that is determined to rule our universe and has already begun exterminating any powerful being that stands in his way.” Hela’s eyes returned to Loki. “Mark my works Loki Odinson. Thanos will come for her.” 

Then he watched as the Queen’s face softened. “Both of you are always welcome in my realm and when the time comes I will stand with you.” Hela reached out and gently touched Marzanna’s cheek before disappearing only to reappear and pierce him with a glare. “If you ever hurt that girl I will make you suffer and know this Loki, Son of Laufey, there is nowhere you can hide from me.” 

Loki felt a shiver run down his spine as the Queen of Hel blinked out of existence. He looked down at Marzanna and shook his head. It would seem that life would never be boring by her side but there was nowhere else he would rather be.

*******  
Marzanna had slept for a whole day and probably could have slept longer but Loki coaxed her out of bed to eat. When she was sitting at the table she realized that Loki had figured out how to order food because she had nothing to eat in the house. 

He put pizza down in front of her and once the smell hit her she realized she was starving. After they finished eating she asked how he had ordered food. 

Loki grinned at Marzanna. “You had your secrets growing up and I had mine.” Turns out Loki used to enjoy coming to Midgard and interacting with the people here. The guy knew more about the realm and its customs than she did. 

“Well I guess I chose a good realm to hide in.” Loki stopped typing on the computer he had found (stolen?). 

“What do you mean? Why would we hide?” 

Marzanna sighed. “Whatever happened to me shook my control and for the first week my power would expand and destroy everything in its path. I was not safe to be around.” 

Her eyes looked slightly haunted and Loki did not like it. “I would have stayed in Hel but Hela told me it would not be good for your recovery. I did not want to return to Asgard because I knew there would be question I don’t have answers to and I didn’t want to harm anyone. I moved us here and anytime I felt out of control I would teleport to Hel.” 

Loki did not want Marzanna to feel guilty for doing what she needed to do. “It’s fine. I am not angry I just wanted to know why we were hiding. You’ve done nothing wrong, Little One.” 

Marzanna nodded and moved to leave but stopped when he grabbed her hand and pulled her into his lap. “You can take as much time as you need before we return to Asgard.” Loki continued before she could interrupt. “If you never want to go back that would be okay too. I am here with you and I’m not going anywhere without you.” 

Marzanna couldn’t believe that Loki was willing to stay wherever she wanted. “I will return to Asgard but I can’t go back until I know that I can control this power and I need to know that Amora is gone." Loki stared at her but nodded. He was aware that Amora could have survived but it wasn’t likely. “I know that she should have died in the void but she is a powerful mage and she could have escaped. If she did then she will come back and I will not have her attack Asgard again to seek revenge against me.” 

Loki smiled because even if they weren’t Asgardians he knew that both of them would defend the realm with everything they had. It was and always would be their home. “We should send word home that we are alive.” Loki stated and Marzanna knew he was right but something told her to wait. “Soon.” She answered and left it at that. 

Soon came before either thought it would because when Loki turned back to his computer there was an urgent new bulletin. The reporter was covering an ongoing terrorist attack in Germany. The terrorist was none other than Amora.


	2. Glorious Purpose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heros need villains and like a roach this one just won't die...figures.

Falling into the void had terrified Amora but knowing that she had managed to bring Loki with her was almost worth it. She knew that Loki’s fall would break Marzanna and not being able to see the woman crumble was what she truly lamented missing. 

The darkness that surrounded her was almost peaceful. As she was beginning to accept her fate a voice called to her. “You have wrought beautiful destruction but your desire to rule has been unfulfilled.” The voice purred. “I could give you a realm to rule if you would serve me. We could bring the universe to its knees. All of those people who have brought you to this point would be forced to knell before you.” 

The voice seemed to glide around her and echoed in her mind. “How can you give me a realm and what realm would it be?” Amora questioned. The voice seemingly slid closer. “I will give you an army to command and the power to deal with any opposition you face. You may choose the realm you wish to rule.”

Amora thought about how her power alone had not been enough to bring down Asgard but it would be enough to destroy puny Midgard and the wench who had changed Thor. If the wench had not interfered then Thor would not have gotten his power back and she could have defeated Loki and Marzanna. 

If she could not have Asgard she would take Midgard. The destruction of the Bifrost meant that Thor could not leave Asgard and he would be helpless to stop her. “I accept your offer. I will conquer Midgard.”

*******  
Thanos was pleased when the Other reported that he had found a woman in the void that seemed to come from a different area of the universe. He wondered if this woman was the powerful being he felt but dismissed that thought upon seeing her. The mage was powerful but not so much so that she could be a threat to him. 

The Other’s selection of ally to lead the Chitauri pleased him and he would enjoy watching her wreak havoc. The woman was devious, malicious, and her hatred ran deep. She would serve her purpose well. 

*******  
Breaking into the human’s compound was as easy as opening a door and the look of horror on their faces was perfection. 

She smiled sadistically when a dark skinned human with an eye patch ordered her to put down her spear. Killing them was far too easy. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the blonde man approach and she grabbed him. “You have heart, how about you give it to me.” Touching his chest with her scepter his eyes bled from their natural color to the ice blue of the mind stone. He stood at attention and holstered his weapon. 

She approached the dark skinned man as he attempted to leave with the tesseract. “Please don’t do that. I still need it.” She purred.

“This doesn’t have to get any messier.” His reply caused her to laugh. 

“Of course it does. I have come too far for anything else my sweet. I am Amora of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purpose.” 

Before she could continue an older man stood up. “You are of Asgard just like Thor?” She scoffed but paid him no mind. 

“We have no quarrel with your world.” The dark skinned man stated. Amora smirked at him. “Now why would an ant have a quarrel with a boot?” 

“So you plan to step on us.” 

Amora smiled, “No I plan to free you. Only through subjugation can you understand true freedom. I will free you of your worries and peace shall reign.” Amora stepped up to the man who presumed to know of Asgard and pressed the scepter to his chest bringing him into the fold. 

The dark skinned man glared at her. “You say peace but I kind of think you mean the other thing.” 

Her first soldier walked up to her, “Ma’am Director Fury is staling. The building is going to blow and drop a couple hundred feet of rock on us.” 

Fury’s reply of “like the pharaohs of old” almost made Amora laugh out loud. The people in this realm could be terribly fascinating. Amora turned to her solider and gave him the order to shoot.

Fury was not surprised when the bullet stuck but he was surprised that it didn’t hit its mark. Hawkeye never missed. He pulled the bullet out and radioed to Maria. He prayed that is team could stop them. 

When it became clear that they could not bring down Amora or recover the tessract Fury decided it was time. The Avengers Initiative was officially active. This was war.


	3. The Tesseract

Natasha was enjoying the fool in front of her. Men who believed that they had the upper hand always spilled their secrets. 

The phone call was unexpected by the news from Coulson made her blood run cold. “Clint is compromised.” That was all it took for her to drop her façade, end her interrogation, and leave. She had bigger problems to deal with.

Being sent to bring in Dr. Banner was unexpected and she believed that a different person could be found to find the tesseract. 

Orders were orders. 

As she talked to him she believed that she was getting through to him until he demanded her honesty and appeared to be getting angry. As she drew her weapon from under the table he held his hands up. 

His voice was soothing as he said, “I’m sorry. That was mean.” Natasha could see the sincerity but she was still on edge.

“Let’s just talk. So you don’t have to use that and the Big Guy doesn’t have to make a mess.” 

She nodded and told the team to stand down. Dr. Banner looked at her and shook his head. “Just you and me right Ms. Romanoff?”

*******  
Steve Rogers couldn’t sleep but that was true of most nights. 

All he could see when he closed his eyes was the last day of the war and putting the plane into the ice. 

He had never expected to wake up and now that he had he couldn’t honestly say he was pleased. The presence of Director Fury didn’t help and the information he handed him even less. 

He had put the plane down to bury the tesseract and the Red Skull but it seemed that history was doomed to repeat itself when men craved power. The fight wasn’t his but then again it was because he never had learn how to leave anything alone. 

As he walked out all he could think was that he should have known that his past would never stay there. 

*******  
Tony Stark had been slowing transitioning his company to clean energy since his return from Afghanistan. He felt good as he placed the reactor in place that would power the new Stark Tower. 

“Everything is good on my end now it’s all up to you.” Tony said while flying back to the tower. 

“Funny I thought that it was all up the ark reactor not me.” 

He rolled his eyes. “You know exactly what I meant Liz. Now light her up.” 

Liz Stark smirked and asked Jarvis to reactivate the tower’s power. “Well big brother it would appear your design works on a massive scale. Power is stabilizing and holding steading.”

Tony landed and stepped onto the platform that would remove his armor. As he descended and moved into the pent house he was happy to see mirth shining on Liz’s faces. It had been a very long time since he had seen his sister happy in his presence. Jarvis interrupted his musing with a call from Coulson that he ordered Jarvis to ignore. 

He moved to Liz who stated that levels were holding steady. “This is all thanks to you. Stark tower is your baby. Give yourself like 12% of the credit.”

Tony grimaced and Liz glared. “12% of the credit?”

He tried to backtrack and failed. “I am going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way aren’t I?” Liz smirked. 

“It won’t be subtle.” Jarvis interrupted again and his protocols were being overridden forcing the call through. Tony attempted to make Coulson leave a voice mail but the man himself appeared in the elevator before Tony could cut him off.

Liz had been surprised when Jarvis invited her to the tower to be present when Tony switched to ark reactor power. 

Her and Tony had a strained relationship but they were working on it. The fact that SHIELD had been forced to give her back all of her research and tools due to Thor and not Tony rubbed his big brother pride a little. Tony made up for it by installing a new security protocol into Friday that allowed all of her research to be backed up constantly to Jarvis as well as Friday so that nothing could ever be taken from her again. 

His gift wasn’t necessary but she appreciated it. She was close to a break through on the bridge but Tony didn’t mention it. The bridge brought up Thor and Thor made her sad. Since he didn’t like to see her sad Tony just avoided the topic all together. 

The appearance of Phil Coulson was both alarming and unexpected. She knew that Tony had been offered a position with SHIELD but she also knew he told them no. 

The file that Coulson placed on the table and picked up by Tony was full of data that she knew she wasn’t really supposed to see but well fuck that. 

The file on Thor drew her attention but it was Coulson’s comment that he was leaving Tony to his homework that made her look up and lock eyes with Coulson. She knew that he didn’t believe she had any right to be there but she wasn’t going to leave unless Tony told her too. Coulson seeing the defiant tilt of her chin and challenge in her eyes that was so reminiscent of Tony decided that he had fought enough battles for now and left.

Tony met Liz’s eyes. While he didn’t know if he wanted her involved a part of him didn’t think it was his right to tell her no. Instead he motioned her over. “Lets go through this together and finish in half the time.” She grinned at him and set to work. Tony may not be as close to her as he once was but everyday he seemed bridged the gap a little more. It was good to have his sister back.

*******  
Amora stared at the workers and felt the pull from the Other. She rolled her eyes and followed the silent command. 

“The Chitauri grow restless.” She smirked. “Let them go at each other. Soon I will lead them into battle.” 

The other scoffed. “Against the pitiful beings of earth?” “I said battle I did not say it would be glorious. Unless of course the army is not as formidable as you claim.” 

The Other spun around, “You dare question the army? You dare question him? He who put the scepter in your hand and gave you new purpose when you failed to achieve you own and were defeated. He who gave you the knowledge and power necessary to achieve your purpose.”

The Other stepped into Amora’s space. She grinned cruelly at the being. “I do not frighten and until I open the door you are nothing but words.” 

The Other stepped back. “You will have you war Asgardian but know that if you fail us and the Tesseract is kept from Him there will be no realm, barren moon, or crevice where you can hide from Him. You think you know pain but you know nothing.” 

Amora was pulled back to herself as agony shot through her veins. The first chance she got she was going to kill the Other and bathe in his blood.


	4. First Meeting

Amora gazed over the humans below her. They were pathetically easy targets but she had to admit they did have wonderful music. The sounds that filled the area were pleasant and soothing. It was too bad that such beauty could not be enjoyed longer but she had a job to do.

Walking down the stairs and bringing the guard to his knees was simple. Grabbing the man speaking on the podium, flipping him onto the sacrificial alter, and ramming the devise into his eye was equally easy. 

The screams of terror from the humans as they tried to escape were delightful. She grinned manically and moved to exit the building. 

She knew her servant would be gathering the material they came for so she was going to have some fun. As she moved her shape changed from the emerald green sheath gown to her Enchantress armor and her scepter grew to match her height. She smiled and sent illusions to surround the humans attempting to escape. 

“Kneel.” she yelled. 

The humans were too terrified to listen. Amora and her copies raised their scepter and slammed it down. “I said…KNEEL” Her command rippled through the crowd and she smirked as the humans began dropping one by one. 

She raised her hands and smiled. “Is this not simpler as it is your natural state? It is the unspoken truth of your humanity that you crave subjugation.” 

She moved through the crowd looking at each terrified face and revealing in their fear. 

“The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life’s joy b/c you scramble for power and identity. Subjugation is freedom and in the end you will always kneel.” She was doing these pathetic beings a favor but a lone human interrupted her musing. 

She watched him stand but his words made her laugh. “Not to a woman like you.” Amora’s smile threatened to break her face. “There are no women like me.” The man stared. “There have always been women like you.” 

Amora gazed around and lifted her scepter. “Look to your elder humans. Let him be an example to all of you.” She fired upon the man but was shocked when the blast was reflected back at her after striking a shield. 

The reflected blast threw her to the ground and as she looked up her eyes fell upon a figure clothed in a red, white, and blue uniform.

The man stood up from his defensive position and started towards her. “The last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everyone else, we ended up disagreeing.” 

As the man came to a stop Amora sneered. “The soldier. A man out of time.” She rose and prepared to attack. 

“I’m not the one that’s out of time.” 

The presence of more enemies was unsurprising to Amora. She had planned for this. After being ordered to drop her weapon she fired on the jet and attacked the soldier. Beating him would be fun. As she knocked him to the ground she pressed the scepter against his head and commanded, ‘Kneel.” 

“Not today.” Was his panted reply as their battle continued. 

The music did not startle her but she was shocked when the blast of energy to her chest sent her to the ground. She didn’t think these mortals had any magical weapons.

Steve had not been prepared for how strong this woman was. When Fury had told him that the woman claimed to be a god he had scoffed at the idea of anyone being a god. 

The way the woman tossed him around like a light sack of flower lent truth to Fury’s words. She took his hits and kept on coming. When she was hit in the chest and sent flying Steve was relieved and he hoped whoever sent her flying was on his side. 

Tony couldn’t avoid a little flare as he entered the fight. Liz’s voice in his ears saying, “well at least you picked a good song this time” almost made him laugh but he didn’t want to hear her disappointed speech so he kept himself in check. 

As he landed and came up armed to bring the god down again, he couldn’t help himself any longer, “Make your move spooky witch.” 

Amora’s hand came up and her armor shimmered and disappeared leaving her sitting on the ground in a tight green dress. 

“Good move.” Tony lowered his weapons and stepped out of his offensive stance. 

The voice on his left drew his attention. “Mr. Stark.” He replied without taking his eyes off the downed woman. “Captain.”

*******  
Amora could not believe that these fools believed she was beaten. Her capture was going beautifully and the final stage of her plan would soon begin. She kept her face neutral but inside she was gleefully planning each of their deaths. She would make it long and painful. 

Then the plane shook and she felt Thor’s power surround it but before she could free herself and escape the man himself made his way into the jet and grabbed her.

Steve did not like that Amora had given up so easily. It smelled like a trap. “I don’t like it.” He said to Stark who proceeded to dismiss his concern and then insult him. The man was a menace.

“I don’t remember Fury telling me he was calling you in.” Steve watched as Stark’s eyes met his, “There are a lot of things Fury doesn’t tell you.” 

Before Steve could reply a storm engulfed the quinjet and Amora startled. “What afraid of a little lightening.” 

She glared at him. “I am not overly fond of what follows.” 

Something landed on the roof and Stark opened the hatch. 

Neither was prepared as a large man wearing armor entered the jet, threw Stark into Steve, and grabbed Amora before jumping back out of the plane. 

Stark moved to follow. “We need a plan of attack, Stark.” He stared dumbfounded as Stark replied, “I have a plan, attack.” 

Steve rolled his eyes and began strapping on a parachute when a voice from the front of the plane interrupted him. “I would sit this one out cap. These guys come from legends. They are basically gods.” He finished tightening his straps and picked up his shield. “There is only one God ma’am and I am pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.”

Tony had heard Liz’s sharp intake of breath and her whispered “Thor.” 

He knew that no matter what he would be following the blond man if for no other reason than to kick his ass for making his sister cry. Then the man took Amora and it gave him even more reason to pound on him. Capsicle wanted to wait and plan. Screw that and besides Tony had always been more of a fight first and then ask questions type of man. 

*******  
When Thor had detected an Asgardian power signature he had prayed that it was Loki or Marzanna and not Amora. Finding Amora was disappointing but the faster he could recover the tesseract the faster he could return to his search for his siblings. 

“Where is the tesseract?” He demanded of the mage. She laughed. “Did you miss me?” 

Thor started forward to wring her neck when he felt another energy surround Amora and begin to choke her. 

“No one misses a snake like you.” Thor faltered and spun around to come face to face with a seething Marzanna. She moved around him and her power crackled with fury.

“You will give me the information I seek or I will kill you here and now.” Thor had never heard his sister’s voice so cold and menacing. He stepped back and felt a familiar hand on his shoulder.

“Hello brother.” Loki said while tightening his grip. Thor reached up and clasped Loki’s wrist and glanced at him briefly before his eyes returned to Marz. “You have a lot of explaining to do.” Loki nodded. “Yes but first we need to stop her from actually killing Amora.” He watched as Amora began to struggle but before he could move to stop Marz she was tackled and pulled away from all of them.

When Jarvis got a reading on Amora not only was she being attacked but the armor wearing man had brought friends. He pinpointed the one doing the attacking and decided to tackle that one and hopefully take them out individually. 

When he slammed into the attacker he did not expect it to be a woman and when he slammed her into the ground he nearly apologized. 

She came to her feet almost gracefully. “Do not do that again.” The woman deadpanned but fury sparked in her intense purple eyes. Tony raised his faceplate and snarked, “then don’t take my stuff.” She stared at him and smiled. The smile threw him off. 

“You are not the first with a claim on that woman’s life. I am simply here to collect on a debt. A debt she owes me many times over for all the people she has slaughtered.” Marzanna knew that Loki and Thor could contain Amora and for some reason her instincts told her not to kill this man. They stood staring at each other. 

Tony understood needing to kill someone but the fury that pulsed in this woman’s eyes was unnerving even to the Merchant of Death. 

“When she gives up the cube she is all yours but until then stay out of this.” Tony stated while slamming the faceplate down. His muttering of insults directed at tourists was cut off when a ball of energy slammed into his chest and sent him flying. 

Marzanna felt the rage begin to simmer only to feel it encompass her entire being at the gall of this metal man. He thought that his find the tesseract was more important than her getting justice for all the lives Amora had taken. If the fool would have left her alone she would already have the information he sought and have killed Amora. 

The fury pulsed and she knew if she didn’t let it out she was going to destroy everything on this mountain. She smirked. The tin man looked like he could take beating. Time to find out.

She was impressed that he could give back almost as good as she could dish out. “You aren’t so bad for a mortal.” She drawled. His reply of “well you are kind of lacking for a god” made her laugh. It was invigorating to fight with someone who didn’t pull his punches physically or otherwise. Of course even in her rage she refused to use her full power and so even as the fight began to wind down she knew she would win. 

At the moment she would have ended the fight she was hit in the chest plate by a flying object. When she looked up a man in star suit caught the shield and asked if they were done.

Both of them looked at each other and then turned to star man and petulantly replied, “No.” 

Before they could return to trading blows Loki and Thor descended into the clearing and Loki began speaking with star man. 

She looked at the tin man and he shrugged. “Name is Tony. Next time lets do this without any baby sitters.” He held out his metal hand before flipping up his faceplate and grinning. She returned his grin. “Agreed. I am Marzanna.” 

Thor, Loki, and Steve all stared at them before Loki said “I don’t think that I like the two of you together. It seems like double the trouble.” Tony and Marzanna looked at each other and smirked. “Who us?” 

*******  
Loki had not been surprised when Marzanna could not hold herself in check as they arrived on the mountain Thor had brought the mage to. He had been surprised when she was tackled by the armored man and then preceded to fight with him. 

Loki had known she was in no real danger so he didn’t interfere. Her rage at finding Amora has built from the moment they saw the mage on his computer so her fight with the metal man was purely about release. 

The fact that another man joined the fight made Loki decide it was time to interfere. He and Thor had descended with their prisoner before Marzanna and the metal man could return to their fight. Thor explained to the man named Steve that Amora was wanted in Asgard murder and treason but that he had been sent to help bring the tesseract back to Asgard. 

Loki looked over at Marzanna and watched her shake hands with the metal man who had outright invited her to fight him again. He could see the mischievous glint in their eyes and knew that they would cause untold amounts of chaos and mayhem. Perhaps Midgardians weren’t quite as boring as his Little One first thought. 

*******  
Fury was proud of Captain Rogers. The man had seemed reluctant to join the battle but like a true soldier he put his feelings aside and got the job done. “Good job Captain.” Fury smiled only for it to dim slightly when the Captain put his hands up. “I didn’t have anything to do with it. You should be thanking them.” He pointed to the two tall men and short woman wearing capes behind him. 

Fury stared at them and thought they looked like they stepped directly out of a renaissance fair. Thor was the blond one that had crashed to earth a few months ago but the other two he was unfamiliar with. If there was anything hated being it was unfamiliar with people on his carrier.

Everyone was led into the bridge and introductions were made. Thor introduced the tall slender dark haired fellow as his brother Loki and the short curvy dark haired woman as Marzanna his sister. Loki had an unassuming air about him but the hardness of his eyes gave Fury pause. Marzanna vibrated with barely contained energy and her eyes sparked with mischief but the way she tracked the movement of every person in the room wasn’t lost on the old spy. Thor’s siblings presented an odd pairing but based upon experience Fury knew that Asgardians were not to be underestimated. 

Fury was brought out of his musing by Marzanna’s interaction with Dr. Banner. He knew that most people avoided the man. It seemed that on an instinctual level ordinary humans could sense the Big Guy and steered clear. That did not seem to be the case for Marzanna. 

Bruce did not want to be on this flying death machine. He didn’t want to be around these people with their skittering glances and their jumpiness. 

When he entered the bridge he hadn’t really looked around too much because he intended to leave without making eye contact with anyone. That plan was derailed as soon as the small woman he had briefly seen upon entering the room came to stand directly in front of him. It would be rude to continue to stare at the floor so he looked up and caught her eyes. The color of her eyes was startling but what shocked him was the complete lack of fear. Then he remembered that she probably didn’t know what he was. As if sensing his thoughts she reached out and gently poked him in the nose. He pulled back and noticed guns being reached for out of the corner of his eye.

When his gaze returned to the woman she was smiling. “Are you the giant green rage monster I have heard so much about?” 

He grimaced but before he could reply the man with a green cape snapped at her. “Marzanna!” She turned to glance at the man and shrugged. “What? I don’t see what all the fuss is about the man has perfect control and yet all of these people keep jumping and acting like he is going to maul them at any moment.” She slowly turned and glared at every person in the area. “They should worry more about me mauling them out of boredom.” Her words pulled a small laugh out of him. His eyes widened at the sound but when she looked up at him she was smiling softly. 

He held out his hand to her. “Bruce Banner.” She grasped his hand and squeezed gently. “Marzanna Odinson and the snippy one is Loki Odinson.” Bruce continued to smile and nodded. Then she poked him again and stared into his eyes. He stared back, “It takes a lot more than that to bring out the Big Guy.” She pouted. “Too bad I guess I will have to wait to meet him.” Bruce startled and he watched Fury stare dumbfounded at the tiny woman. 

The entire room had gone quiet until Mr. Sta…Tony turned to Marzanna and said, “I’m a fan of the way he turns into a giant green rage monster too and would love to help you meet the Big Guy.” Bruce couldn’t help but think idiots or the most fearless people he had ever met surrounded him. He also didn’t miss the fact that Tony didn’t have any fear in his eyes when he looked at Bruce either.

The Big Guy rumbled and he felt a wave of warmth as he returned both of their smiles. Perhaps coming here wasn’t so bad after all.


	5. What's Her Play?

It was embarrassing how easily Marzanna had managed to sneak up on her. The bitch was supposed to be dead! The Other and his master had lied to her! 

When she escaped this place she was going to burn this realm and kill that wretched woman no matter what it took. She settled into a neutral expression because everything was still going according to planned. She just had a few more deaths to plan.

The room the guards deposited her into was trivial but its design did allow an outside to view the one contained from all angles. These humans were clever but then again so was she. 

She smiled as Director Fury came to her cell just after they locked her in. 

“In case its unclear. You try to escape. You so much as scratch that glass…thirty thousand feet straight down in a steel trap. Fury smirked and pointed to the control panel. “Ant meet boot.”   
Amora smiled. “It is an impressive cage but it wasn’t built for me. It was built for a beast much larger and…angrier.” She purred while staring Fury down. 

She knew that the man was posturing because he believed he was in control. Let him believe he had control. 

When one believed that nothing could go wrong it was easy to overlook small things. Like the fact that her scepter contained the mind stone and would effect all of their minds the longer it was on this ship.

As Fury walked away she couldn’t help but let out a contented sigh. It was beautiful when your enemy underestimated you. 

*******  
They all sat or stood around the table on the bridge watching Amora’s interaction with Fury. Marzanna glared and Loki put a restraining hand on her shoulder. 

“She is going to drag this out.” America stated while looking at the good Asgardians. 

“Thor, what is her play?” He asked. 

Thor sighed. “From what Heimdall and Odin could uncover Amora is set to lead an army called the Chitauri. They are a race that does not hail form Asgard or any realm that we know of.” He paused. “She intends to lead them against your people.” 

“An army from outer space.” America sighed as if he couldn’t believe that he went from fighting Nazis to fighting aliens. 

Bruce looked at everyone and said, “She needs to open another portal. That is what she needed Selvig for.” 

Thor interrupted Bruce. “Erik Selvig?” Bruce nodded. “Yeah he is an astrophysicist.” Thor’s next interruption surprised Marzanna and Loki. “He is a friend.” They both gazed at their brother and figured he must have met the man when he was exiled to earth.

“Amora has placed him under some kind of spell along with one of ours.” Natasha stated quietly. Marzanna could see the tension around her eyes. The Black Widow was close to the one Amora had taken. 

“I want to know why she let us take her.” America stated and Marzanna couldn’t help but begin to grow even more annoyed with all their pointless talking. 

She felt Loki’s hand return to her shoulder and knew that her power must be flexing. He leaned down and softly whispered in her ear. “You must calm down Little One. The barrier I placed around your power is straining.” Marzanna quickly met Loki’s eyes and saw the strain she was placing there. “I am sorry love. This is frustrating.” She exhaled heavily. “I know.” Loki stated before kissing her cheek and then the top of her head as she relaxed against him. 

During their exchange the rest of the merry band had grown quiet. When her gaze returned it was to find Banner slightly surprised, Romanoff blank, Thor happy, and America disgusted. It was America’s expression that sent her hackles rising again. 

America looked at them. “I didn’t realize Asgard was that backwards.” Before she or Loki could rip America’s head off an angry Thor bellowed, “Have care how you speak. They are the Prince and Princess of Asgard.”

Romanoff looked up. “They’re brother and sister though.” 

Thor deadpanned. “Loki is adopted.” 

The collective “oh” around the room made Marzanna doubt the intelligence of these people.

Banner returned them to the conversation at hand. “What does she need with iridium?” Tony chose that moment to renew her confidence in these people. He explained that that the iridium was needed to stabilize the portal and that all that was missing was a significant power source. 

America looked at Loki and herself. Neither one had added anything to the discussion so he decided to engage them. “What do you two have to add?” 

They both looked at him but it was Loki who spoke. “Amora is a powerful mage who has only become more powerful with the scepter she wields in her possession. There is no way you mortals defeated her in battle. She let you bring her aboard and she is right where she wants to be.” Loki threw up his hands as the room prepared to defend itself. “It is not slight against you, but none of you are a match for her. She is an Asgardian mage who is older than Thor. She has had a lot longer to perfect her abilities than any of you.” 

America seemed like he was going to interrupt anyways so Marzanna decided to bring the topic to a close. 

“Sitting here and talking is getting nothing accomplished.” She stated and pointed at Steve. “You are a super soldier but even with all your enhancements you barely kept up with Amora. It is not a slight against your strength or your abilities when he says you are no match for her. It is just plain fact” Then she swung around and pinned Tony and Bruce with her stare. “You are both capable of finding the tesseract alone but together you will find it faster. Get to it so we can finish this before more lives are lost.” 

Marzanna spun back around the locked eyes with the recently returned Fury. “Problem?” He shook his head and turned to his screens. 

 

*******  
She sensed her soldier was close and knew that the device should be nearly at its destination now. Amora grinned manically and turned to face the woman called the Black Widow. “Well if it isn’t the infamous Black Widow.” Amora purred and noted that the Widow’s face remained neutral.

“I want to know what you’ve done to Agent Barton.” 

Amora grinned. “I have broadened his horizons.” 

She watched the Widow step forward. “Once you win and rule our world what happens to him?” 

Amora slid closer to the woman. “It would appear that you love Agent Barton.” Before the Widow could attempt to correct her Amora continued. “I can understand why you would love him. He has a fine body and knows just how to pleasure a woman.” She smirked upon seeing the crack in the carefully structured mask. “He is also quite fond of you and sings your praises. Yours is the name he called out when I took his heart and made it mine.” 

Amora could see that the neutral mask has slipped and cold fury has taken its place. “I believe when I win I will keep him. He is a useful toy and I do love when a man is useful.” Amora’s lust filled gaze and purr could not be taken for anything but what it was.

Natasha had not expected Amora to sleep with Clint. She had also not expected for Amora to slash through her defense quite so easily. She was the Black Widow and feelings only complicated everything. She owed Clint a debt! She wasn’t in love with him but it broke her heart to hear how he had been taken advantage of. If she was going to salvage this she needed to pull herself together.

Before the Widow could speak Amora decided to dig the knife a little deeper. “With the amount of red in your ledger I am surprised that Clint did not kill you when he had the chance. It must have been your looks and his own need to save a damsel that kept him from making a killing shot.” Amora gazed at the startled agent. “After all how much would it take to wipe the ledger of a woman has been killing since she was four years old.” 

Amora smirked. “You will never be able to wipe your ledger clean and saving your precious Barton, who is no more virtuous than yourself, will earn you nothing.” Amora paused and struck the glass as she glared right into the Widow’s eyes. “You are all sniveling whelps and the very thing you sought will be your undoing.” Amora turned and felt that all of her plans were in place. “After all I’m not the one that brought a monster on board.” She smiled and began counting down until she could begin killing these pathetic creatures. 

Natasha looked up and knew that Hulk was Amora’s target. She radioed and told her fellow agents to keep Dr. Banner in the lab. Looking at Amora she saw that the woman was slightly surprised she had figured it out but she didn’t seemed to be worried. 

The lack of worry was alarming and Natasha quickly left. She prayed she would get there in time to stop whatever it was Amora had planned.

*******  
Tony wasn’t exactly happy to be ordered into the lab by Marz but he was happy to leave the bridge and get to work. The faster they found the tesseract and put an end to the Spooky Witch’s plans the faster he got to single Thor out and get some brotherly justice for Liz. 

There was also a part of him that was fangirling for a chance to work with Dr. Banner and maybe meet big green. As they entered the lab and got to work Tony decided to do what he did best and push Dr. Banner’s buttons. 

He walked up behind Dr. Banner and shocked him. “Oww.” He stared directly into Banner’s eyes looking for any hint of green. 

Banner smirked at him as if knowing exactly what he was doing when Capsicle crashed the party. 

“Hey are you nuts?” Tony rolled his eyes and replied, “Jury’s out.” 

He was impressed with Bruce’s control and told him as such. “You’ve really got a lid on it. What is your secret? Yoga, meditation, big bag of weed…” 

Before he could finish an irritated Spangles was interrupting him again. “Is everything a joke to you because threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn’t funny.” 

Spangles turned to say something to Bruce when Tony noticed Marz enter the room. 

“The only person who threatens the safety of those aboard this ship is Amora but I’m getting ready to add my own name to that list since you seem intent on being an ass.” Spangles whipped around and came face to face…well more like face to chest with Marzanna. The woman’s eyes were flashing dangerously but her face was calm and controlled. 

“Dr. Banner is as in control of his power as anyone can be but you fail to see that. You are going off stories told by others and not off the man standing directly in front of you. Maybe you should actually give someone a chance before making a judgment based on information you didn’t gather for yourself.” Marzanna maintained eye contact with Cap until he looked away. 

Tony smirked. It would seem that Marz had a stubbornness to match what Howard had always told him Steve Rogers possessed. Perhaps the good captain had met his match.

Steve did not like having Marzanna in his face so he broke their eye contact first and moved away from her. “We all need to focus on the problem at hand including Mr. Stark. 

Tony informed him he was working on the problem but that he found it odd that Fury had not called them in sooner. His arguments made sense and Dr. Banner agreed. 

He also noticed that Marzanna had grown quiet and seemed to have calmed down since her outburst. If they were going to have to work as a team he didn’t honestly want her there. Loki and Thor would likely make good additions but even if she was strong there was a difference in being strong and knowing how to handle a battle. Plus she looked to barely be an adult. He would have to bring it up to Fury and see if he could keep her off the front lines. 

When Mr. Stark informs him that he has been running a decription program and will soon know all of SHIELD’s secrets he is flabbergasted. “And you are confused as to why they don’t want you around?” Tony rolled his eyes but Marzanna outright laughed. “Of course they don’t want him around. They are hiding something and when you want to hide something you don’t bring a highly intelligent and curious person in to look around.” Steve stared at Marzanna but she stared right back with a bored look on her face. 

“Amora wants to wind us up. She is a woman that means to start a war and unless we stay focused she is going to win.” Steve glanced at the three in the room but his gaze lingered on Tony. “Orders are orders.” He watched as Mr. Stark cocked his head to the side and said “following has never been my style.” This frustrating man was going to push every last button Steve had. “You’re all about style aren’t ya Mr. Stark.” He bit out but regretted it when he felt the glare from Marzanna searing into the back of his head. Before anything else could be said Bruce asked him if the whole situation wasn’t just a little bit fishy. He didn’t have an answer so he left with his parting order being to find the cube.

As he stood in the hall way he came to three conclusions: one their arguments were sounds and he would do is own looking around; two Tony Stark was exactly what he had been told his was; and three Marzanna Odinson was too young and immature to be a part of the team.

Bruce was glad that Captain Rogers left because as the man left he watched Tony and Marzanna visibly relax. Marzanna looked up and smiled at him before moving to his side and looking at both he and Tony. “I apologize for jumping into your conversation but I couldn’t not allow such idiocy to continue when he implied your were a threat to everyone aboard Dr. Banner.” 

Bruce was shocked that she had jumped into Captain Rogers’ face to defend him. No one did that for him. “It was fine because Captain Rogers is right about me being a threat due to my lack of control.” Out of the corner of his eye he watched Tony’s head snap up and the man himself make a beeline for them. “I read all about your accident and that much gamma radiation should have killed you. Not only did you survive but you have figured out how to turn it on and off. You can use your ability to help us put an end to Amora’s plans.”

Bruce was going to die from shock between these two. “So what are you saying that the Hulk, the Big Guy saved my life?” He asked incredulously. “For what?” Tony and Marzanna started at him before Tony said, “I guess we’ll find out.” 

Bruce shook his head at their optimism. “I don’t know that you will enjoy that.” He turned back to his work when he heard Tony say, “And you just might.” 

If he died from shock at least he was among friends. The thought nearly caused Bruce to falter. It had been a long time since he considered anyone a friend but as his gaze found Tony working and Marzanna asking questions it seemed that he had found two people who fit the title. The warm pulse from the Big Guy was unexpected but pleasant. For the second time he thought he might not regret coming here. 

Marzanna had come to the lab to get away from Loki and Thor telling Fury about Asgardian tech and customs. They were brokering a relationship between Midgard and Asgard. She adored her home but political dealings were not her forte and held little interest for her. Loki had banned her from seeking out Amora and only her inability to tell her love no when he used his serious tone kept her refusing to make the promise to stay away. 

She went in search of Tony and Dr. Banner. They would be working on finding the cube but perhaps they would have time to speak with her or just let her hide out in their lab. Upon entering and finding America in the lab she had prepared to leave but his comment about Dr. Banner being a threat to everyone just made her snap. He had known the man less than a day so how dare this man assume to know exactly what Dr. Banner could or couldn’t do. 

After snapping on America she had felt Loki’s brush of concern over her power spike. She pulled all of her power back in and sent him reassurance that she was fine. 

Before she could leave Tony informed them that he was hunting down every secret SHIELD had. It made her smile because these people had clearly underestimated the man and were now going to pay the price. America’s reply wasn’t at all surprising and when he finally left she was glad to see him go. 

Dr. Banner’s self-loathing was unexpected and she hoped that between their combined presence she and Tony could help him come to terms with what he was. He claimed he was a monster but Marzanna had seen many monsters in her years and the Hulk didn’t fit in with any of them. 

Monsters don’t protect anything but themselves. Monsters aren’t remorseful for damage done and lives lost. Monsters don’t care about others. Bruce Banner was most definitely not a monster. If he wouldn’t listen to their words they would just have to show him with their actions. 

*******  
Thor asked the Son of Coul about his Elizabeth’s location. He was informed that Liz was staying with her brother and completely safe. Thor smiled. He wished he could speak to Liz but knew that he needed to keep his head in the game. Knowing that she was safe was the most he could ask for.

“It is not coincidence that Amora took Erik Selvig and I fear what she has planned for him.” Coulson looked up at Thor and could see the seriousness of his thoughts. Thor looked out over the sky below and wondered if it would have been better if Liz had never found him. He had unwittingly dragged her friend into a battle he was ill prepared for. Just as his thoughts began to run in circles he felt Loki’s hand on his shoulder.

“Brother, we will find Dr. Selvig and bring him back. We will also rid Midgard of Amora and make it safe for your Lady Elizabeth as well.” Loki stated while staring out the window. The tone of Loki’s voice was sincere and Thor let it wash through him. He let his dark thoughts go and focused on the fact that he had found his siblings and they would all get to fight side by side to stop Amora. 

“I am glad that I was able to find both of you and I know that now is not the time but what happened to Marzanna and how did you survive the void?”

Thor looked up at Loki and Loki seemed to reach some conclusion as he opened his mouth. “There is much to tell that isn’t mine so I will leave that to Marzanna but I survived the void because I wasn’t there very long. Marzanna pulled me out of the void.” Loki paused as Thor gasped. The kind of power required to reach into the void was beyond the Allfather so Marzanna should not have been capable of it. “Her power has expanded to near or perhaps even limitless proportions. When I fell it seems that the seal that had been tempering her power was broken and she reached her true potential.” 

Thor was speechless. Marzanna had always been strong for her age and her magic was on par with Loki’s but he never imagined that the power he felt that day on the rainbow bridge was all hers.

“The problem with that much power is control. She is having to master controlling her power and it has take an toll on her.” 

Thor nodded but he though back to Marz’s fight with the Man of Iron and knew that she must have been pulling her punches. Loki seemed to know his train of thought. “Her control is far better than she gives herself credit for but you know how she is. She will keep viewing herself as a failure until she is able to exercise perfect control.” 

Thor grinned because that was exactly what Marz was like. She was complete perfectionist and had spent countless hours on one technique until it was perfected before she allowed herself to rest. 

Thor looked at Loki and decided it was time for a lighter subject. “So when are you going to marry her?” The look on Loki’s face sent Thor into a roaring laugh that startled everyone in the quiet room. When Thor came up for air he could see the small smile on Loki’s face and knew that the question was worth the mischief his brother would undoubtedly inflict for it.

The short reprieve came to an end when Fury approached them. “Can either of you or Marzanna make Amora tell us where the cube is?” They shared a look but Thor was the one to speak. “Amora came here seeking vengeance and is willing to do anything to get it. There will be no forcing her through torture and Loki’s magic cannot be used to see into her mind because her own magic blocks his.” 

Fury looked at both of them hard. “What about Marzanna?” He caught the shared look and knew that Marzanna was the one he needed to approach. Loki looked at Fury and said, “She might be capable of forcing her to tell where the tesseract is but you don’t want her to use such magic on this ship.” The tone of Loki’s voice brokered no argument. Fury nodded but was then interrupted by Maria.

As Fury glanced at the computer that had detected a virus he knew that Stark was likely behind it. He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. This wasn’t going to end well.


	6. The Mind is a Beautiful but Dangerous Thing

Tony knew that Jarvis had been found in SHIELD’s system but it was too late. Jarvis had already uncovered basically everything and uploaded it to his own server. Time to find out what Fury is hiding.

Steve opened the case and knew that his past was going to keep haunting him. He put the plane down in the ice to prevent Hydra or anyone else from having weapons like the ones he was looking at. SHIELD had used the tesseract to build Hydra weapons. He didn’t care if the weapons were used for the good guys. He had been lied to and he was sick of it. He grabbed a weapon and started back to the lab. The worst part of all of this was going to be telling Stark he was right. 

Marzanna and Bruce were sitting behind him when Fury stormed into the lab demanding to know what was going on. “You are supposed to be finding the cube.” 

Bruce looked at Fury while Tony smirked and said, “We are. The algorithm is running and once it is complete you will have the location within half a mile.” 

He looked at Fury as Jarvis finished decrypting the files. “What is phase two?” 

Fury glanced away but the answer surprisingly came from Spangles who slammed a gun down on the table in front of Tony. “Phase two is SHIELD using the cube to make weapons.” 

Then Steve glanced at them and said, “Sorry your computer was moving too slow for me.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marz intently staring at Amora’s scepter and as Tony turned back Fury moved to confront Spangles. 

“Rogers we gathered everything related to the tesseract but this does not mean…” he was interrupted by Tony pulling up missile schematics. Tony smirked at Fury. “Please continue with that lie Director.” Spangles looked absolutely betrayed and accused Fury of lying to him. Tony was glad to see the Capsicle getting with the program.

Bruce wasn’t surprised that SHIELD was tampering with the tesseract to make weapons. No one ever learned. When he saw Romanoff enter the room with Thor and Loki he couldn’t stop himself. “Did you know about this?” 

He watched as she adopted a neutral face and turned to request that he think about removing himself from the situation. “I was doing just fine before you brought me here.” “Amora is manipulating you.” He scoffed. “And you’ve been doing what exactly?” He could not believe the gall of this woman to think that what she had pulled to get him here was not manipulation. “You didn’t come here because I bat my eyelashes at you.” Romanoff stated blankly. “I’m also not leaving because you get a little twitchy.”

Bruce moved to the schematics that Tony had uncovered. “I want to know why SHIELD is using the cube to build weapons of mass destruction.” 

Fury sighed. All of this could have been avoided if Tony hadn’t gone digging and ruffling feathers. Fury pointed at Thor and said, “It is because of him.” 

Thor’s disbelieving “me” was matched by the skepticism on everyone’s face in the room. 

“A few months ago Earth received a visitor from another planet that leveled an entire town. We learned that not only are we not alone in the universe but we are ridiculously and hilariously outgunned.”

“We are a peaceful people and have no issue with this realm.” Thor stated. Fury looked at the Prince and knew he was missing the point. “You are not the only people out there though.” 

Before Fury could continue his defense of SHIELD’s actions Loki snarled. “Your tampering with the tesseract is what drew Amora and her allies here. The tesseract acts as a signal. You have signaled to all the realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of war.” Fury turned to glare at Loki but Rogers interrupted him. “A higher form of war?” Fury looked at all the Asgardians. “You forced our hand we had to come up with…” 

“A nuclear deterrent because that always works.” Tony stated while crossing his arms. 

“Remind me again how you made your fortune.” Fury fired right back at the pompous rich boy. 

“I’m sure if he still made weapons Stark would have been neck deep…” Tony stepped forward and glared at Captain Righteous. “Wait why is this now about me?” Righteous looked him in the eye and said, “isn’t it always?” 

Thor and Loki shared a look. “I thought humans were more evolved than this.” Loki almost laughed but agreed with his brother’s statement. It was then that he noticed Marzanna had not joined the conversation. A part of him was glad that she was not adding to the growing tension but the fact that she remained silent was almost alarming. He turned to find Marzanna staring at Amora’s scepter. Loki stepped towards her but could still hear the argument brewing behind him. He reached to touch his love’s face only to stop as her eyes grew brighter and he felt her magic expand to surround him.

“Captain America is on SHILED’s threat watch?” That statement from Bruce brought Marzanna back to herself. She felt Loki’s presence next to her and reached for him with her magic. As her magic surrounded him she could hear the argument brewing in front of them. “What is going on?” She asked Loki and he told her that tensions were running high because SHIELD had been using the tesseract to make weapons. 

She shook her head and then glanced at the scepter again. “Loki that thing is exerting low level influence on all the minds in this room. It is amping up aggression in everyone.” Loki glanced around and noticed that everyone including Thor seemed to either be angry or well on their way to being angry. He also noticed that he had felt his anger simmer close to the surface until Marzanna wrapped him in her magic. “Your magic is blocking the influence from the two us.” She met his eyes and knew his next question. “I can try to wrap the whole room but I don’t know if I can maintain it.” Loki nodded. “I will help.” 

*******

Amora grinned. It was time.

*******  
“You speak of control but you have none.” Fury turned to correct the Asgardian but stopped when Banner said. “We are a ticking time bomb.”

He pointed and went to order Banner to leave when he felt his anger dissipate and the tension leave his body. He watched as Banner visibly relaxed too. As he was seeking out he source of his relief Rogers and Stark’s conversation caught his attention. 

“You damn well know why he can’t now back off.” 

Stark smirked. “Oh I’m starting to want you to make me.” 

Steve stepped right into Stark’s space. “Big man in a suit of armor, take that off and what are you?” 

Tony’s gaze wandered before finding Steve’s. “Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist.” 

Steve rolled his eyes. “I know men with none of that worth ten of you. I’ve seen the footage and the only person you really fight for is yourself. You aren’t the person to make the sacrifice play and lay over the wire while the guy behind you crawls across it.” 

 

The flicker of hurt was only visible to Steve but for some reason he couldn’t stop. “I believe I would just cut the wire.” Tony replied quietly and Steve smirked. “Always a way out. You might not be a threat but you better quit acting like a hero.” 

Tony vibrated with anger, “A hero. Like you? Rogers you are a laboratory experiment and everything special about you came out of a bottle.”

Steve snapped, “Then put on the suit and lets go a few rounds. See just how powerful your toy is.” As Steve finished the sentence he felt the anger and tension leave his body and watched, as the same thing seemed to happen to Stark. Stark looked around the room before his gaze returned to him and spat, “Any time and any where Captain.” 

Marzanna and Loki had worked as quickly as possible to bring everyone into her barrier but they hadn’t been able to prevent the escalation between Tony and Steve. Everyone appeared to be confused so Marzanna decided to enlighten them before America and Tony went at it again. 

“You were all being affected by Amora’s scepter. The stone in it has been amplifying your aggression ever since it left Amora’s hand.” She looked around and made eye contact with each person. “It is affecting this entire ship and I cannot contain it. You are within my barrier but I will not be able to hold it around you individually.” 

They all looked at each other but before anyone could say anything the modal beeped with the location of the tesseract. Banner moved to see where it was but before he could tell them the lab exploded.


	7. Divide and Conquer

Tony was thrown into Steve who automatically shielded the smaller man under his own body. 

Loki, Natasha, and Banner were thrown into the service tunnel below the lab. 

Thor was thrown back out the door of the lab. 

Fury and Marzanna crashed out the glass window in the front of the lab and onto the steel grating below. Fury shook his head to clear the ringing in his ears. When he looked over to see who had landed next to him he saw that Marzanna was already on her feet and offering him a hand. He grasped it and marveled at how easily she pulled him up.

“I will go keep Amora in place.” She told him and then left. He shook his head, the woman sure liked to give orders, must be an Asgardian thing. Fury called Maria and Coulson and activated the protocols to keep the helicarrier in the sky.

*******  
Steve rolled off of Tony and met his whiskey colored eyes. “Put on the suit.” He ordered. Tony nodded. “Yeah.” Steve helped him up and they both moved to get him to his suit. 

*******  
Natasha groaned and tried to move her leg but found it trapped. Loki was lying on the other side of Bruce with a large gash on his forehead. Bruce was balling up his fists and grunting with the effort of keeping the Other Guy at bay. Natasha prayed that Bruce was strong enough to stop himself.

Bruce felt the change coming and knew that he wasn’t going to be able to stop it. He heard Romanoff but the Big Guy didn’t trust the female spy. The shift was starting to cloud his mind but then he felt a gentle hand on his forehead and met the green eyes of Loki. 

Loki had tried to place a spell on Bruce the moment they had fallen but he hadn’t been able to get his magic to cooperate. He stood pushing soothing waves into Dr. Banner’s mind in an attempt to keep his other side from making an appearance. The blood running down his face wasn’t good but Loki would keep at it as long as he could.

Bruce could tell even in his fragmented state that Loki was pushing himself and the blood freely flowing down his face was cause for concern. The Big Guy was adamant about wanting out and Bruce knew that Loki wouldn’t be strong enough to stop him. He tried to pull the Big Guy back into the foreground of his mind but he refused to submit. The Big Guy wanted out and he was going to get what he wanted. 

Loki felt the presence inside of Bruce buck his magic. The presence was strong and it desired its freedom. He felt it push back again and knew that he wouldn’t be able to hold it much longer. He turned to Romanoff and waved his other hand to remove the pipe from her ankle. “You need to go and get Thor or Marzanna. I will not be able to keep him at bay much longer.” He waited for Romanoff to nod before turning back to Bruce and focusing on giving the woman time to find one of them.

*******  
Steve reached the damaged engine bay and called for Stark. “I’m here.” 

He watched as the Iron Man suit came into view. This may not be the time but he couldn’t help but think that the armor was pretty magnificent. Right up there with flying cars. Stark asked him to move the some panel and tell him something about it. He figured he would know it when he saw it.

Tony knew that he needed to put his feelings aside and save the helicarrier so he could take Rogers up on going a few rounds. He was going to kick the super soldier’s ass when he got the chance. He pulled debris and entered the rotor. “What does it look like in there?” Steve’s reply of “it seems to run on some form of energy” almost made him laugh. “Well you aren’t wrong.”

*******  
Thor had come to and known that he needed to make sure that Amora could not escape but when he moved to head towards her cell Marzanna cut him off. He was glad to see that she was relatively unharmed. 

Before he could say anything she grabbed his forearm. “I need you to go find Loki and help him with the Hulk. I will go deal with Amora.” Thor caught himself nodding before he completely processed what she had said. “Sister are you sure you can reframe from killing Amora?” Marzanna eyes met his and she said, “You have my word as the Princess of Asgard that I will not kill Amora while she is on this ship.” Thor gripped her forearm, nodded, and moved to find his brother.

Marzanna breathed a sigh of relief that Thor had left to help Loki. She could feel the Hulk’s presence and knew that Loki was hurt and wouldn’t be able to stop the giant by himself. She moved to continue to Amora’s cell. There was no way that woman was escaping her this time. 

*******  
Loki felt his magic wane and the presence push closer. He hoped that the Widow had found Thor or Marzanna because he was out of time. Bruce felt the Other Guy take over and felt his body begin to shift. He watched as Loki fell and Hulk knock him into the bulkhead before taking off in the direction that Romanoff had gone. 

Natasha hadn’t been able to leave the tunnel yet because of the extensive damage the area had suffered. She was crossing the last debris before the door when she heard the roar and felt the area shake. A glance behind her told her exactly what she feared was happening. The Hulk was free and he was rampaging towards her. She sped up in an attempt to avoid the giant but he caught up and slapped her into the wall opposite the door. She sat up and knew that one more hit would be the end. Hulk raised his hand but was tackled through the door and into the hanger by an angry thunder god.

Thor hadn’t found Loki but he did find the female spy in danger. His tackle had been more instinctual than planned. No Asgardian would allow another to be harmed if he could prevent it. The Hulk stood and threw a punch at him. He avoided it and hit the giant knocking him back a few steps. Thor felt the excitement building. There was nothing like a good fight.

Thor blocked the Hulk’s next punch. “We are not your enemies.” He grunted. “You need to think Banner.” The Hulk’s response was to swing his arm and send him flying. Thor stood up and grinned. Time to get serious. He put his arm out and called Mjolnir. It arrived just as the Hulk pounced and he knocked the giant into the plane behind him. The Hulk stood up and grinned. His grin made Thor uncomfortable. 

*******  
Fury was not surprised to see Amora’s henchmen in SHIELD gear. He took them out quickly with the help of Maria. The woman had been knocked off the walkway by the grenade and he was thankful to see her realtively unharmed. “You will get that checked Agent Hill.” Fury pointed to her head and turned to call Coulson. “Agent you know what to do.” 

Coulson moved to the high security closet to collect his bounty before moving to confront the resident world dominatrix. 

*******  
Jumping onto the Hulk’s back might not have been the best idea. Thor could feel the pain radiating from his back where the Hulk had sent them both through the roof of the hanger and into the lab. Before he could move the Hulk grabbed him and threw him across the room.

Thor started to move when he heard the Hulk roar and saw that he was getting hit by some Midgardian weapon. He crawled to Mjolnir but before he could stand up and rejoin the fight the Hulk jumped out and onto the plane that had been shooting at him. Thor watched as the plane pulled away and the Hulk was gone. 

He rubbed his jaw and couldn’t help but think that there were some in this realm that could match him blow for blow. 

*******  
Tony knew that he had to clear the debris and then jump start the engine to get it functioning again. 

“You can’t stay in there because once the engine reaches full speed will tear you to shreds.” Steve said urgently. 

“The standard control unit can delay the rotor long enough to reverse magla…” “Speak English!” Tony rolled his eyes but said, “The red lever will slow the rotor long enough for me to get out. So stand by it and pull it when I signal.” The soft “now was that so hard” made him smirk. Perhaps Captain Righteous wasn’t always a tight ass. 

Steve did not like that Stark was going to push the engine but he believed him when he said he could get out. The addition of SHIELD agents was unexpected but welcome until one tried to throw a grenade into the engine. He knocked it down but knew he would need to take them out to ensure Stark was safe. Taking the first two out was easy but the third one was ready for him and started shooting. Steve didn’t have his shield but he moved to stand directly by the lever until the man got off a lucky shot and it sent him falling backwards into nothingness. 

*******  
Marzanna ran into the area holding Amora and saw that the area was empty and the prison didn’t contain the woman any longer. Instead it held a bleeding Loki and she rushed forward to get to him.

“Loki! Loki!” she yelled all while moving to the control panel and opening the door. He moaned as she rushed into the cell. When she kneeled down to touch Loki the illusion flickered and the door slid shut. Marzanna whipped around and lunged for the door but it was too late to prevent it from closing. 

Amora was so happy to see that catching Marzanna was still so easy. All you had to do was dangle Loki and she came running. “It is a shame that the real Loki is gravely injured and you will never get to see him again.” Marzanna’s eyes widened and Amora watched her strike the glass. The glass cracked and the clamps holding the cage in place loosened. 

Amora grinned. “Struck a nerve didn’t I? Catching you is always so easy my dear. You don’t even make it a challenge for me.” Marzanna just stared at her but her eyes were filled with rage. “What has the cat got your tongue?” Amora purred and relished the sparking eyes trained on her. 

“No it’s not that is it? You are just truly speechless that you have been beaten.” Amora laughed. “That’s right this team, if you can even call them that, will fall apart and the Earth will be mine.” She spread her arms wide and bowed. “And it is all thanks to you Princess. For if you had never had me imprisoned in Asgard none of this tragedy would have befallen Asgard, Jotunheim, and finally Earth.”Amora’s hatred filled eyes grew cold. “You are to blame. You are to blame for every death I have caused, every action I have taken, and it is my pleasure to wipe you from existence.” She moved to push the button that Fury had pointed out to her when she was first imprisoned only to be stopped by a newcomer. 

“Move away from that, please.” Coulson said while pointing the gun directly at Amora’s heart. Amora smirked. “I have waited a long time to do this and no one will stop me from finally getting my due.” She pushed the button and sent Marzanna falling to earth.

Coulson fired just as Amora pushed the button but the blast hit some kind of shield and dissipated out. Before he could fire again the mage had moved behind him and stabbed him. 

“You’re going to lose.” Coulson whispered. Amora smirked and decided to give the dying man his last rite. “Your heroes would rather fight each other than work together, the only person able to match my magic is gravely injured, and your flying fortress is falling as we speak. The advantage is mine.” Amora moved away from the dying man.

It was time to bring the Chitauri to Earth.

******  
Taking out Amora’s henchmen was easy but Fury had not factored in Hawkeye. The exploding arrows were a distraction for Hawkeye to disable engine one and send them hurtling towards earth. “I need someone to take out Hawkeye. Can anyone report?” 

Natasha sat nearly hyperventilating after almost being killed by the Hulk. She heard Fury’s call and almost ignored it until she heard Agent Barton’s code name. “Romanoff here, I will take care of it.” She signed off and moved to confront her friend.

Find him wasn’t particularly hard and the ensuing fight was a familiar one. They had trained together long enough that predicting his moves was almost second nature to her. As he slammed her into the railing she decided that the best way to bring him in would be to knock him out. Worse case scenario SHIELD could put him in cryo until they defeated Amora. 

Bringing him down took a few minutes but punching him hard enough to knock him out was almost refreshing. It had been a long day and it felt good to hit something. Now time to see if she could save him.

*******  
Marzanna could not believe she had let Amora trick her. “You are skilled little one, but not unbeatable.” Her mother’s words from when she was young still rang true after all these years. She had made the mistake of underestimating Amora and now she was going to pay for it. 

Falling was exhilarating but being thrown into the walls of the cage was less so. The crack she had put in the glass was small but she didn’t think she wanted to be in the cage when it hit the ground. Contorting her body she managed to get her feet under her so she could throw all her strength at the crack. The hit widened the crack but did not break the glass. 

The ground was quickly approached so Marzanna reached for her power. She hadn’t used it on the ship because her control was still imperfect but here she didn’t have to worry about hurting anyone but herself. She pulled the power and sent it hurling at the glass. The glass shattered and she threw herself out of the cage just before it hit the shore below.

Landing in the field was less than graceful but at least she wasn’t dead or buried under the cage’s debris. She stood on wobbly legs and prepared to call to Loki but stopped when she felt a familiar presence. 

*******  
Thor had found Loki unconscious and bleeding. The fact that he could not rouse Loki had made him panic. The fall was bad enough but to lose his brother again would devastate the warrior. The wound was not the worst Loki has suffered so the fact that Loki was out cold likely meant that his brother had strained himself while injured. He wouldn’t doubt that Loki had attempted to use his magic to sooth Dr. Banner even while bleeding from the gash in his forehead. 

He gently picked him up and moved him to the medical room he had seen during his fight with the Hulk. The healer had quickly urged Thor out of the way while he assessed Loki. As the man moved around Loki there was another small explosion and then the ship began to lurch sideways. Thor quickly moved to grip his brother and keep him from falling off the bed. He didn’t know what was going on but he hoped the others could fix it quickly because he couldn’t leave Loki right now. 

*******  
Steve barely managed to grab a cable attached to the ship as he fell. At least he wouldn’t die from crashing into the ground. He could see the helicarrier falling and he hoped that Stark could get the engine restarted soon and he could get back onto the damn thing so Stark didn’t die. He began pulling himself up when he heard Stark yell out for him to hit the lever. 

Tony pushed the rotor with everything the suit had. It barely worked but he felt the rotor take over to spin on its own and helicarrier begin to rise. It was time to go. “Cap the lever.” The “I need a minute” was unexpected and Tony began to worry that he might not get out of this. When the rotor started to move away from him he knew he was screwed. Thankfully it only took getting pulverized two times for Cap to hit the lever. After he escaped the spinning death trap he moved to help Cap. 

Steve heard the desperation in Tony’s voice and knew he had to move. He climbed up and narrowly avoided being hit by stray bullets. He grabbed the lever and pulled. The wanna be SHIELD agent raised his gun to shoot again but was tackled by a red and gold suit of armor and Steve breathed a sigh of relief. 

******  
Thor was glad that ship finally righted itself and began to rise. He hadn’t noticed how tight his grip had become until Loki’s voice startled him.

“You are going to break something if you keep gripping me like that.” Thor looked up and met Loki’s green eyes. “I am glad you are awake brother. You scared me for a moment.” Loki’s smile was pained but his eyes were bright.

Before Thor could ask him anything else Fury announced to everyone that Coulson was dead. Thor and Loki looked at each other and knew that Amora was to blame. However if Amora had killed Coulson where was Marzanna? Loki reached out for her and found that she was alive but not on the ship. 

“She is alive but she’s not here.” Loki told Thor and both of them relaxed slightly. 

Loki wanted to teleport directly to Marzanna but one look at Thor told him he wasn’t going to be getting out of his sight anytime soon. He would have to wait for his love to make her way back to him.

*******  
Thor and Loki, under protest from Thor, both entered the bridge to find Captain Rogers and Man of Iron looking grim. Fury paced the room and threw a stack of cards on the table saying that Coulson never got Rogers to sign them. The cards had blood on them. 

Fury then went on a long speech about how SHIELD was going to use the tesseract to build weapons but that his idea of an Avenger’s Initiative is where he had hung his hat. Neither Thor nor Loki understood the expression but didn’t want to interrupt so they remained silent. 

Loki could see where the idea of the Avenger’s Initiative was a good thing for a realm like Midgard but he was also aware that Fury was using the death of the Son of Coul to manipulate the two mortals in the room into doing what he wanted. He could see why this man both inspired loyalty and hatred in equal measure.

Steve wasn’t surprised when Tony left the room after Fury said that Coulson believed in the Avenger’s being heroes. He also knew that he was the one who accused Stark of not being a hero and he needed to attempt to fix it before it was too late.

*******  
Marzanna turned and greeted Queen Hela. “Hello Hela. What do I owe this honor?”

Hela smiled at her. “Well I figured since you were getting your ass kicked I would help you even the playing field.” Marzanna scowled at Hela but knew that the Queen was not being spiteful. “How do you suggest I even the playing field?” Hela raised an eyebrow and pulled a package from inside her cloak and handed it to Marzanna. 

The minute she laid her hands on the package she felt it pulse and heard a voice that she thought destroyed. “Hello wielder. It is good to be back in your hands.” Sigrunn practically purred. 

She gripped the sword tighter and turned to Hela with tears in her eyes. “Thank you Hela. How did you find her?” Hela moved and wiped away the tear that had escaped the young woman’s eye. 

“I found her shortly after you left my realm the first time but she was damaged so I had her repaired.” Hela smiled shyly. “I was going to gift her to you for your birthday but I figured you need her now so consider this an early gift.” Marzanna was floored that Hela wanted to celebrate her birthday because in the past she said such events were a waste of time. 

As if sensing her thoughts Hela said, “When you disappeared after your power was unsealed I realized that I ca..I car…I care for you. I would miss you if you were gone so celebrating the day you were born seems fitting.” 

Hela took a breath and glared at the sickingly sweet expression on Marzanna’s face. “Do not think that I share the same sentiment for anyone else. You have not changed me that much over the years.” Hela’s face returned to its neutral bored expression but they both would forever know that the Queen had shown her hand. “I am honored to be your friend Hela.” 

Hela and Marzanna shared a look and before she could stop her Hela was being wrapped in Marzanna’s arms and hugged. “For such a small person you sure manage to cover a lot of ground.” Marzanna scoffed. “Shut up and just enjoy the moment.” Hela briefly returned the hug and Marzanna decided to have pity and stepped away from the Queen. 

“Thank you for the return of Sigrunn.” Hela nodded but stopped Marzanna before she could teleport. “If you need me. I will come.” Hela waited for Marzanna to acknowledge her vow and then disappeared. 

Marzanna strapped Sigrunn to her back and donned her armor. She reached for Loki and when she felt him she teleported to his location. It was time to stop Amora’s plans with or without the aid of the humans.

*******  
Bruce came to surrounded by rubble. A voice overhead called out that he had fallen from the sky. 

“Did I hurt anybody?” Bruce asked the man who laughed but shook his head no. 

“You did scare the hell out of some pigeons though.” Bruce sighed. “Well that was lucky then.” 

The guy shrugged. “Or good aim. You were awake when you fell.” 

Bruce startled. He had been the Hulk but he hadn’t hurt anyone. That was a first. The guy gave him some clothes and asked if he was an alien but otherwise the man seemed uninterested. 

*******  
Coming back to himself was almost as painful as losing himself to Amora’s control. Clint never wanted to feel this way again. He knew that Natasha could relate but it seemed so much worse than what she ever described to him. When she asked him if he would fight the answer was absolute. “I guess if I put an arrow in Amora’s eye socket I would sleep better at night.” 

*******  
Steve stood across the way from Tony. He didn’t know how to really broach the subject so he went with asking questions about Coulson. He was surprised when Tony called the man stupid but after listening to him explain it made sense. “Sometimes there is no waiting and no way out Tony.” Steve stated but he could see the hurt on Tony’s face. Tony moved to go by him. “Is this the first time you lost a soldier?” 

Tony whipped around so fast that Steve wondered if he would get whiplash. “We are not soldiers!” Tony nearly yelled. He took a breath and said quietly, “I am not marching to Fury’s fife.” “Neither am I. He has the same blood on his hands that Amora does but right now we have to put that behind us and get this done.” Steve paused and decided to bite the bullet. “I am sorry for saying that you aren’t worth anything and you aren’t a hero. I was wrong.” Tony looked genuinely shocked but at least the hurt wasn’t shinning in his eyes anymore. For a man the world claimed had no feelings Steve had found that his eyes reflected an awful lot of them. 

Tony was angry and hurt. There was no reason that Coulson had to die. If he had just waited then Tony would have come with him and he would still be here! When Rogers said that there wasn’t always a way out he was just reminded of their earlier argument where the man had called him worthless and he knew he needed to leave. Howard had built this man in front of him up to be the best human that ever lived. Tony had always been partially in love with Captain America and not even Howard’s constant abuse could erase it. Yet the man standing in front of him failed to live up to Howard’s hype but at the same time his words had cut hard and deep. 

The apology from Rogers was shocking. He never expected to get one but now that it had happened he didn’t know how to react. For a minute he considered being an ass about it but he could practically picture Liz’s disappointed face so he decided to be honest. “I was wrong too.” Tony said softly while meeting Steve’s eyes. 

Steve hadn’t expected a sincere reply but when he got it he thought that perhaps the things he had seen about Tony Stark was biased or one sided. The man was sassy and had an attitude but he wasn’t without emotion.

“Amora needs a power source. We can put together a list…” Tony looked down at the blood spot on he wall. “She made it personal.” Steve shook his head. “That doesn’t matter.” Tony met his eyes. “That does matter. That is Amora’s point. She hit us all right were we live.” Steve nodded. “Her point was to divide us.” Tony paused and practically vibrated with energy. “She knows she has to take us out to win. She wants to beat us and be seen doing it. She wants an audience.” 

Tony moved past Steve and continued. “Amora is a full tilt diva and she wants everyone to see her big plan come to fruition. She wants it all: the flowers, the parade, the fanfare, and the giant monuments in the sky with her name plastered all over it…” Steve stared at Tony knowingly. “Son of a bitch.” Steve couldn’t help himself. “Language.” Tony mockingly scowled but a small smile graced his face. Steve couldn’t help but think it was cute. 

*******  
Tony and Steve walked back onto the bridge and were shocked to see Marzanna being hugged by Loki and Thor. 

“When did you get here Marz? I heard the Spooky Witch threw you out of the ship” Marz grinned at Tony and he noticed she was in the same armor as she had worn when they first met. 

“She tried but I’m damn hard to kill.” Tony grinned and told them exactly where they needed to go. It was time to end this.


	8. Reassemble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!! I know this has been a long time coming. Life happened but I am happy to say that all the chapters will be loaded tonight and part 3 of this adventure will be partially loaded as well. I hope you all enjoy where the story goes and thank you so much for your kind comments!!

Elizabeth Stark had spent the last couple of days on a lab binge. Seeing Thor and knowing that the man had come to Earth but not bothered to see her was heart wrenching. She had fallen in love with the big oaf and knowing that she didn’t matter to the man was heart wrenching. 

So she channeled her inner Tony and went on a work binge. If she was working she wasn’t thinking and Tony needed a new design for Stark Industries anyways. It was a win-win for everyone. 

The warning from Friday had been ignored because it hadn’t seemed important. Then Jarvis hacked into her blackout and practically shouted at her. “The building has been compromised. You need to leave ma’am because it is too dangerous to stay.” 

She was startled but then her brain kicked into high gear. “What is going on Jarvis?” 

The AI paused but nothing in his protocol kept him from answering. “There is a device on the roof that possibly has the ability to open an inter-dimensional worm hole and let an army from outer space into New York air space.” 

She blinked and processed what he said. “Who put the device there and how do I disarm it?” 

Jarvis patched Mr. Stark through to answer her question. “A woman named Amora put the device there and it doesn’t matter if it can be disarmed I don’t want you any where near it. Leave the building now Elizabeth.” Tony ordered. 

Liz raised an eyebrow. “You are about sixteen years too late to order me around big brother. I will do as I please and you can either help me or I will figure it out on my own. You aren’t the only genius in this family.” Liz knew that Tony wouldn’t let that stand and would initiate some kind of protocol but he surprised her. “Liz I don’t want you to get hurt. This woman is crazy and she means to kill everyone in her way. If you have to be involved at least wait until I get Amora away from the tower.” 

The sincerity in Tony’s voice is what made Liz agree. “Alright. The moment it is clear let me know and I will attempt to deactivate the device.”

*******  
Steve gathered the team and moved to the hanger bay. He wanted Tony to ride with them because the suit had been damaged. Tony told him he could fix it well enough to make it home for a new one. “How many suits do you have?” Steve asked curiously. Tony smiled. “Enough.” 

“I will see you there Captain.” Tony threw over his shoulder before flipping the faceplate down and flying away. 

He still felt uneasy and didn’t want to evaluate why he was suddenly so protective of the Iron Man. 

“Captain Rogers.” A British sounding voice in his ear startled him. “I have been asked by Mr. Stark to patch you through to his communications so that you will know he made it.” Steve could hear Jarvis confirming with Tony he had done what he asked and then “Hi Steve.” “Thanks Tony.” He wondered how many more times the man would shock him today. 

The quinjet was fast but Steve couldn’t help but want it fly faster when he heard Tony find the device, attempt to disable it, and grunt in pain. “I guess it’s on to plan B.” 

“What is plan B?” Tony sighed. “Seems I have a spooky guest that needs to be dealt with.” 

Steve’s eyes widened. “Do not engage her Tony.” 

“I don’t have a choice Steve.”

Before Steve could reply his line was cut. He looked around at the three Asgardians and two spies.

“We need to hurry.” He sat back and prayed they would arrive in time.

*******  
Tony landed and ordered Jarvis to get the Mach 7 up and running. He just needed to buy him some time. 

“Oh please tell me this is where you appeal to my humanity?” Amora purred while walking into the penthouse. 

Tony shrugged. “No I am going to threaten you.” He watched her smile. “Then you should have left your armor on for that.” 

Tony walked over to the bar and offered the villainess a drink. “Your attempt at stalling me won’t change anything. My beautiful army is coming and your realm is going to fall.” Amora stated. “I have nothing to fear.” Tony looked up from pouring his drink. 

“Oh I beg to differ Spooky. You should fear the Avengers.” 

She scoffed. “That is what we are calling ourselves.” 

Amora grinned manically. “Oh I saw how well you all do together and I must say I am positively thrilled to have you as Earth’s last line of defense. It makes taking this realm so easy.” 

Tony smiled. “Well it takes a while to get any traction I’ll give you that one. However, lets do a head count shall we. The Princes of Asgard, the super soldier a living legend that kind of lives up to the legend, a man with breath taking anger management issues, a couple of super spies, and then there is you. The woman who has managed to piss off all of them.” Amora smirked but Tony continued. “Oh wait I forgot one. You also managed to piss off the Princess of Asgard who has a vicious streak that could give the Hulk a run for his money.”

“When they come and they will, they’re all coming for you.” Amora remained smiling. “I have an army dear boy.” 

“We have a hulk.”

“Your Hulk is no match for my Chitauri.”

“You are missing the point because there is no version of this where you come out on top. There is no throne for you.”

Amora’s smile began to falter.

“Maybe your army comes and maybe it overwhelms us. There is still nothing for you. We may not be able to protect the earth but you can damn well bet we will avenge it.”

Amora started towards the infuriating mortal. He would become her next puppet and then she could get on with it. “How will your friends stop me when they will be so busy fighting you?” She touched her scepter to his chest and nothing happened. “This usually works.” She silenced his quips by grabbing him by the throat. “Well I may not be able to control you but one less mortal to deal with suits me just fine.” Amora stated and then promptly threw him out the window. 

The Mach 7 bursting into the room was unexpected but the return of the mortal and the blast to the chest was even more surprising. Perhaps she had underestimated these people. The portal began opening and she grinned. Now it wouldn’t matter how strong the meager band of heroes was the Chitauri would overwhelm them and bring the Earth to its knees.

*******  
Tony hadn’t expected the woman to throw him out his window. It felt good when the Mach 7 wrapped around him. “Anthony Howard Stark! I am going to kill you the first chance I get you idiot!” Liz’s screaming was distracting but he heard the worry and concern. “I am sorry for scaring you but I’ve got work to do. I will let you know when its clear.” He switched off the volume and dealt with Amora before moving to deal with the newly opened portal. The force was too much for him alone. He hoped that Steve and the others would be here soon.

*******  
AMORA! Marzanna screamed as Amora turned to face her. 

“Turn the tesseract off or we will destroy it.” Thor stated stepping up beside his sister. 

“There is no way to turn it off. Now there is only the war!” Amora replied haughtily. 

Thor and Marzanna looked at each other and said, “So be it.”

They both attacked and Amora divided her time between blocking Mjolnir and countering Marzanna’s magic. She could hear the screams from the people below and it was music to her ears. 

Marzanna could see the Chitauri beginning to overwhelm the city. She knew if she stayed and continued fighting with Amora she would be unable to keep her power in check. Amora was living on borrowed time but they still needed to find out if they could turn the tesseract off. She looked at Thor and then down at the city. “Go.” She nodded and teleported to help their allies.

*******  
Steve could feel the panic begin to rise but when he com crackled to life the panic dissipated. “Sorry for the absence. Our spooky friend has a penchant for tossing people out windows.” His eyes widened but at least Tony was safe inside another suit of armor. When this was all over they were going to have to have a long talk about confronting enemies outside of the suit.

Tony told them to swing up park so he could lay the enemy out for them. Hawkeye maneuvered the jet into position and began taking out the Chitauri following Iron Man. They approached Stark tower and Hawkeye prepared to shoot at Amora but the woman used her scepter to blast them out of the sky. 

The landing was rough but Loki managed to keep them from suffering any injuries inside the jet. They all exited the jet just in time to see the first flying monster emerge from the portal. The things was huge and Steve didn’t know how they would kill it. 

“Tony are you seeing this!” Steve called out. “I see it but I’m still working on the believing part. Has Banner shown up yet?” Steve confusedly asked “Banner?” “Just keep me posted.” Tony replied while ordering Jarvis to find him a weak spot. 

*******  
Thor grabbed Amora by the throat and forced her to look at the chaos and destruction she was causing. “Do you think this madness will end with your rule?” Amora looked down at Thor and snarled. “I am in control and no matter how you struggle you will lose.” She used her magic to wretch herself out of Thor’s grasp and before he could grab her again she jumped onto the nearest Chitauri ship. 

Thor growled because Amora had escaped him but at least he had her scepter. He threw it back inside the penthouse. “Man of Iron, Amora’s scepter is inside your tower can you secure it?” Tony’s quick reply of yes satisfied the god so he moved to contain the invading force.

 

*******  
Liz didn’t wait for Tony to give her the all clear. The moment he was thrown out the window she pulled the gauntlet glove she had been working the kinks out of on and moved towards the penthouse. Jarvis moved the elevator to the floor below the penthouse and the moment Amora stepped outside of the penthouse Jarvis allowed her access.

Moving into penthouse carefully Liz watched as a short dark haired woman and a large blonde haired man attacked Amora. They all fought hard but then Liz caught a glimpse of the blonde haired man’s face. She gasped. The man was Thor. Thor was trading blows with this crazy woman and he wasn’t winning. Liz fear of Amora skyrocketed because if Thor couldn’t win then what hope did a mere mortal have against the woman. 

The dark haired woman paused and shared a glance with Thor before he ordered her to leave. She teleported away and Thor’s fight with Amora grew even more brutal.   
She watched him hold Amora up and force her to look at the destruction she had caused but the woman was clearly immune to chaos because all she did was laugh and then wrestle out of Thor’s grip to flee. Thor growled and turned in the direction of the penthouse. Liz knew he couldn’t see her but that didn’t stop her from hiding behind the bar and waiting until Jarvis gave her the all clear to move.

The scepter that Amora had wielded sat on the floor staring at her. It looked like a harmless weapon but she had watched the footage of her using it to blast the quinjet out of the sky. It was a dangerous weapon so Liz picked it up and threw it into the elevator. 

“Liz I need you to…” 

“Already taken care of big brother. I am moving to the roof to attempt to deactivate the device.” 

“Be careful.”

“You too.” Liz sighed and hoped that Tony would actually heed her word and take care of himself out there. “Jarvis take me to the roof please.” The elevator began its ascent and Liz hoped she could close the portal before they lost.

*******  
Marzanna had teleported directly to the crash site to find Loki and everyone else unharmed. She covered them as they ran away from the crash and towards cover. 

“There are citizens down there that need to be…” Clint trailed off as they all watched Amora zip by on the back of a Chitauri ship. America looked down and then back at them. Loki met his eye.

“We can hold this you and Marzanna should go help the civilians.” America met her eyes and she could tell that he didn’t want to agree with Loki so she turned and took off without giving him a chance to say anything. 

Loki smirked. Captain Rogers was going to find that attempting to keep Marzanna out of a fight was an effort in futility. He turned back to the Chitauri surrounding them and went to work killing the vile creatures.

Hawkeye and Widow moved to help the civilians out of the bus while Loki covered for them. Widow was bouncing between shooting and directing the people where to run. Loki was teleporting and stabbing Chitauri and coming back faster than either could track. “Its just like Budapest.” Hawkeye replied incrediously. “You and I remember Budapest very differently.” Loki’s comment of less talking and more killing was met with an eye roll from both spies.

Steve was not keen on Marzanna being present in this fight and her running directly into the fray didn’t help anything. She was too young to be a part of this fight. He caught up to her and directed her towards the NYPD officers. 

Marzanna watched as American landed on the top of the car and started giving directions to the men below him. “Why the hell should I take orders from you?” The man asked motioning to American and her. Marzanna grinned and pulled Sigrunn off her back while America brandished his shield and both moved to kill the descending Chitauri. After the short but violent skirmish the unformed man followed America’s commands and gave no further argument to the contrary. She turned to America. “I have never seen someone fight with a defensive tool but I must say that you fight well…for a mortal.” Steve scoffed but offered nothing further.

Loki was impressed at the tenaciousness of the two mortals he fought along side. The Widow was unafraid of throwing herself into danger and the Hawkeye’s aim was uncanny. The sent their enemies flying but more quickly took their place. Just as three Chitauri moved to attack Widow and Hawkeye, Captain Rogers jumped in front of them and dealt with the creatures. At the same time a dagger embedded itself into the Chitauri behind him and he turned to see an excited Marzanna coming to stand back to back with him. 

As they all turned to face the next wave of Chitauri, lightening descended from the sky destroying the creatures. Thor landed heavily and moved to join them. Thor informed all of them that the power surrounding the cube was impenetrable and Tony agreed. “We have to deal with these guys.” Tony stated as he flew past them.

“How do we do that?” Questioned Natasha. Steve looked at everyone and answered, “as a team.” Steve moved to stand in front of all of them. “We need to keep Amora focused on us because without her these things could run wild.” He pointed up “We’ve got Tony up top and he is going to need us to…” Steve was interrupted by the arrival of a small man on a motorcycle. Steve was shocked to see Dr. Banner but relieved as well.

“Well this all seems horrible.” Banner said while glancing at all of them. “I’ve seen worse.” Natasha said. Bruce looked at her and apologized. “No we could use a little worse.”

Marzanna broke away from everyone and quickly hugged Bruce. He looked shocked but returned her hug. “Oh thank gods. I thought I was going to have to hunt you down myself just to meet Big Green.” Bruce laughed and felt the tension fall out of his body. The Other Guy pushed to the forefront of his mind and he felt the wave of protectiveness directed at Marzanna. He could do this. 

Steve radioed Tony. “We’ve got him Tony.” “Banner! Good tell him to suit up. I’m brining the party to you.” Steve watched as Iron Man came barreling towards them while being chased by the flying goliath. 

Thor gripped Mjolnir tighter, Loki pulled his magic around him, Steve hefted his shield higher, Clint gripped his bow, and Marzanna pulled Sigrunn back off her back. “I don’t see how that’s a party.” Natasha said while visibly preparing herself to fight.

Bruce moved to confront the beast only to be stopped by Steve. “Dr. Banner now might be a really good time for you to get angry.” Bruce turned and smiled. “That’s my secret Captain. I’m always angry.” He felt the pull of the Hulk and let himself settle into the foreground. Time to go to work and protect his new friends and teammates. 

Marzanna was impressed with the Hulk. The way he took down the flying goliath was terribly effective. The scream of anger from the Chitauri was music to their ears. She looked at each warrior. They all brought different skills and experiences and Marzanna found herself delighted to stand with them, Earth’s mightiest heroes. She gripped Sigrunn tighter as the roar of the Chitauri reached its crescendo. It was time to end this.


	9. Fighting the Good Fight

Amora could not believe the audacity of these mortals to challenge her. She would teach them that their small victory meant nothing. 

“Send the rest.” She snarled and watched as the monoliths descended on the people below.

*******

Steve looked up at soon as Natasha got their attention but it was Tony’s “call it Captain” that got him reengaged. “Okay until we can close that portal our priority is containment. Barton I want you on that roof watching everything and calling out patterns. Tony you’ve got the perimeter if it gets more than three feet out turn it back or turn it to ash. 

Clint looked at Stark. “Wanna give me a lift?” Stark nodded. “Right. Better clench up Legolas.” 

Steve continued calling it. “Loki and Thor you have got to bottle neck that portal. Thor’s got the lighting and Loki can contain it. Light the bastards up.” Thor grabbed Loki and flew to the portal.

Steve looked at Widow and Marzanna. “We will stay down here and keep the fighting here.” 

He turned to the Hulk. “And Hulk” Steve pointed up. “Smash.”

Hulk moved to do as America had asked. It was fun to smash. These puny creatures were attempting to hurt his friends. Hulk had to protect them.

Thor and Loki flew to the highest building near the portal. “I will call the lightening.” Thor yelled. Loki nodded and brought his magic forward. He would place a barrier around the area that would create a tunnel for Thor’s lightening to travel in. They wouldn’t be able to hold it indefinitely but they could put a dent in the invading army’s forces.

“Now Brother!” Loki funneled Thor’s lightening and they watched as the forces attempting to exit the portal were decimated. They might be able to win this fight.

“Stark you’ve got a lot of strays sniffing your tail.” Tony knew that he was being followed but he was having a difficult time shaking them. “Just trying to keep them off the streets.” Legolas huffed. “Well they can’t bank worth a damn so find a tight corner.” Tony thought that sounded like a good idea. “Roger that.” 

Legolas was right and the things couldn’t bank worth a damn but it still took a few tries to shake them all. “That was a good call. Got any more for me?” Tony asked Legolas. Perhaps being a part of a team wasn’t such a bad thing after all. 

Natasha finished killing the Chitauri with its own weapon and nearly took Steve’s head off as well. “Captain none of this is going to matter if we don’t close that portal.” 

They looked up just as Marzanna killed the last Chitauri on their bridge. “Perhaps the barrier around the cube can be breached with Amora’s scepter. She left it behind after her fight with Thor.” Marzanna stated before moving to kill some more Chitauri. Natasha thought that the woman might be onto something. “If you are going up there you will need a ride.” Natasha looked up and thought she could jump onto one of the Chitauri and force it to top of Stark tower. Before Natasha could act Marzanna laid her hand on her as she put her sword into its sheath. “Or I can just teleport you there.” She nodded and both of them were gone before she could even say anything to the Captain.

Arriving in Stark tower was quick but damn did it hurt. “I apologize for the pain but it will abate in a moment.” Marzanna said apologetically. “It is difficult on your bodies to teleport. Marzanna remained until Natasha waved her away. “Go. Cap needs your help. I’ve got this.” The woman met her eyes and then disappeared. As Natasha sat there and waited for the pain to allow her to move she prayed she was right.

Steve hadn’t expected Marzanna to return so quickly but he was damn glad to see her. She arrived and immediately started killing the Chitauri that had surrounded him. At first he had thought she was too young to enter this fight but as she threw the last of the Chitauri to he ground and beheaded it he was forced to admit that he had been wrong. Clearly Marzanna was a warrior and he had been unfair to judge her otherwise. 

Tony could see that Steve and Legolas were about to be overrun. He decimated the creatures behind Captain and slid up to fight at Steve’s side. Using Steve’s shield to redirect his repulsor blast was a fantastic idea and he would definitely be brining that into the next battle. He took back to the air to knock the Chitauri scaling Legolas’s building down and went to check the perimeter again. 

Thor and Loki jumped onto a flying beast to help the Hulk bring it down. When it crashed after Thor struck it with Mjolnir they all stood and took a quick breather. They all looked at each other and moved to rejoin the fray.

*******  
Liz had reached the top of Stark Tower but was having no luck with disabling the device. She had been shocked to see Erik there but he had seemingly been unconscious so she paid him no mind. It wasn’t until he stood and his eyes glowed an unnatural blue that Liz thought she might be in trouble. 

“You will not stop this. It has too much to show us!” Erik yelled as he darted to grab her. Liz stepped back and nearly fell over he scepter. Erik lunged for it but she scooped it up before he could get to it. He lunged for her again but was stopped by a small red headed woman who forced him to the side. 

When the red head’s face came into view Liz could feel anger begin to boil. “Well if it isn’t Natalie Rushman or should I say Natasha Romanoff.” The red head whipped around and then recognition lit her eyes. “Hello Ms. Stark. I believe we have bigger issues than your mistrust of me at the moment.” The woman said while gesturing around them. 

Never let it be said that Elizabeth Stark wasn’t a violent person but damn did she want to throw the woman over the side and just blame it on the invading aliens. “Very well Ms. Romanoff. This can wait.” 

During their back and forth Erik had risen and tackled the Black Widow. Liz smirked because for a super spy she had gone down fairly easily. “Tony I need to know how to fix someone being controlled by Amora.” Liz heard his reply of “cognitive recalibaration” but a louder more feminine “just hit him hard in the damn head” grabbed her attention. She moved up behind Erik and punched him for all she was worth. Erik’s head met the ground hard but a few moments later when they managed to rouse him his eyes weren’t glowing. 

“Sorry Erik.” He shook his head. “It had to be done. Now where is the scepter?” She pointed over her shoulder. “Liz you can close the portal by thrusting the scepter inside. The tesseract cannot fight against itself so it cannot keep the scepter outside of its barrier.” Liz nodded and Romanoff grabbed the scepter before staring towards the portal. 

*******  
Steve was being close to being stabbed when Marzanna killed the Chitauri on top of him and offered him a hand. He returned the favor by protecting her head and the sending his shield at the one to their left. Hawkeye reported that civilians were cornered close to their location so both of them moved to assist.

They barreled into the bank just in time to watch one of the Chitauri arm a device that appeared to be a bomb. Marzanna took that one out and watched as America threw his shield at another before being targeted by two more. The device continued to beep by Marzanna left it alone as she moved to help America. She grabbed one and grappled with it before throwing it into the crowd below. “Get out of here.” She bellowed at the mortals below and pointed at the exit. America called out a warning as a Chitauri neither of them noticed grabbed the device and threw it in their direction.   
Steve brought up his shield just in time to avoid a direct hit but the blast sent him crashing into a car below. He ached all over but knew he had to get back up. Looking around he saw that Marzanna had suffered a similar fate. He got up and stumbled over to her to find that a piece of metal had pierced the woman’s arm and shoulder. “Marzanna are you okay?” He asked her urgently. She didn’t reply and he started to worry until he heard her soft groan. 

Her eyes fluttered open and he was shocked at the intensity of them. She pulled off the metal and smiled at him. “I’m okay Captain. I need you stand behind me for a moment.” Steve nodded and moved behind her. The moment he did he watched as her body seemed to glow and every Chitauri around them dropped dead.

“I don’t know what just happened but every Chitauri in the city just died. I’m kissing whoever did it” Hawkeye called out. Steve looked at the small woman in front of him and felt a shiver run up his back. He was certainly glad she was on their side.

Loki felt Marzanna’s power just as the Chitauri he had been fighting hit the ground. In fact as he looked up every Chitauri he could see killed over. She was pushing it and he hoped that she knew what she was doing. Loki wanted to teleport to her but stopped as a new wave came through the portal. He would hold his ground and he prayed Marzanna could hold hers.

Amora had not expected her ride to suddenly begin to fall out of the sky nor had she expected the arrow that narrowly missed her heart and embedded itself in her shoulder. She pulled it out after landing on Stark’s balcony and snarled sending a pulse of magic in the archer’s direction. 

She was preparing to teleport when a roar stopped her. The Hulk came hurtling into view and crashed into her sending her through the window and into Stark’s penthouse. She stood quickly. “ENOUGH! You are all beneath me! I am the ruler of this realm you lackluster creature and I will not…” She never got to finish her sentence because the Hulk swept her off her feet and began to slam her repeatedly into the ground. When the Hulk was done with her he left her gasping for air and regretting all of her life’s decisions. 

******  
The reprieve had been short and the second wave was just as brutal as the first. Each person fought with everything they had but fell one by one. 

Hawkeye was forced to painfully abandon his perch, Hulk was attacked by twenty Chitauri at once, Loki could feel his magic straining, Tony was knocked out of the sky by a flying goliath, Steve was knocked to the ground by a blast for a Chitauri gun, Thor fought hard but could see the odds were overwhelming, and Marzanna knew that something bad was coming as she fought at her brother side and helped Steve stand. 

Tony was exhausted but when Fury told him that a nuke was coming he knew he was he only one that could stop it. He put everything into the thrusters and knew that this would be a one-way trip. Too bad because he had really wanted to go a few rounds with Steve and bridge the gap between himself and Liz. Regrets were for the living so he pushed them aside and grabbed the nuke.

Liz and Erik prepared the computer to assist in shutting down the portal. They nodded to Romanoff and she thrust the scepter into the barrier. “I can close it! I can shut it down. Does anyone copy?”

Steve heard her. “Do it!”

Tony interrupted. “No don’t!” 

“Tony these things are still coming.” 

“I’ve got a nuke coming in.” Tony stated calmly. “I know just where to put it.”

Steve startled. “Tony that is a one way trip.” He said softly. Tony didn’t reply and instead said “It was nice working with you Captain.” The coms shut off and Steve hung his head. He had accused the man of being unable to make the sacrifice play and yet here he was proving him wrong. He would so much rather Tony have never proved him wrong about this one.

Marzanna heard what Tony said but somehow she knew that the man would not die here today. She didn’t bother to disclose that information to anyone because she could see the despair on Captain’s face and thought it might do him good to think he had lost Tony for a moment. Comfortable in her knowledge she decided to deal with Amora while everyone else was distracted. She teleported to Stark Tower and moved to rid the realms of a plague.

Liz watched as her brother shot past them and directed the nuke into the portal. She had asked him to be careful and he had to go and sacrifice himself for everyone. Her anger and grief were all consuming and but she knew she couldn’t leave without knowing if he would make it back or not. When she heard Captain America give the order to close the portal her heart hit the ground. She turned to leave when she heard Romanoff gasp. Quickly turning back around she saw the familiar red and gold armor falling from the sky. He wasn’t slowing down.

Steve had never been happier to see the color red but he was alarmed when Tony didn’t slow down. “He isn’t slowing down.” Thor stated as he began preparing to grab Tony. It proved unnecessary as the Hulk jumped and picked the armored man out of the sky before landing in front of the rest of them clutching his precious cargo to his chest. 

The Hulk laid Tony on the ground and Thor pulled his facemask off. Tony wasn’t breathing and his arc reactor wasn’t glowing but before Steve could slip back into despair Loki stepped forward and white light began to surround Tony. After a few moments Tony gasped and his eyes opened wide. 

“What the hell. What just happened? Please tell me nobody died.” Steve grinned. “Only you there for a moment.” 

Loki and Thor glanced up at the sky. 

“We won.” Steve stated softly while ginning at Tony. 

“Alright yay! Alright good job guys. Lets just not come in tomorrow. Lets just take day.”  
“You ever tried Shwarma?” There is a Shwarma joint about two blocks from here. I’ve never been but I want to try it.” Tony rambled. 

Thor and Loki looked down at Tony but jolted when the felt Marzanna’s power expand. “We are not finished yet.” Thor stated. 

Tony looked up dazedly and said “And then Shwarma afterward.”

Loki could feel Marzanna's power expand rapidly. He shared a look with Thor. “I suggest you all hurry” and teleported directly to Marz.

“Thor what is going on?” Steve asked while helping Tony to stand. “It is Marzanna she has confronted Amora and I fear what she might do in her rage.” Tony looked at Hulk. “That’s right big guy you aren’t the only one with anger issues on this team.” The Hulk huffed but grabbed Tony and launched them towards the top of Stark Tower.


	10. Madness and Strength

Marzanna had been prepared to quickly end Amora’s wretched life but a small part of her balked at allowing the woman to escape her sins so easily. 

The rational part of her won until Amora got up out of the crater Hulk had left her in and attempted to flee. 

Marzanna slammed a barrier in place so fast all of the glass the room shattered and Amora was knocked right back on her ass. “You will not be leaving. It is still up in the air whether I mean from this location or this plane of existence. Do not test me.” Marzanna stated coldly.

Amora glanced up at the woman who had caused her all of her pain and suffering and decided she would goad her into action. She would not go back and be a prisoner. Death would be a better alternative.

“Why so cold Princess. It is not like I am solely to blame for what has happened to these people.” Amora looked her in the eye. “It is your fault I am here. You share the blame for my deeds and if this “team” of yours ever finds out about it you won’t be welcome with them either.”

“Are you done?” Marzanna questioned. “You think to anger me with your attempting at placing the blame on my shoulders? You are pathetic.” 

Amora watched as Marzanna’s eyes began to glow. “You are going to tell me who gave you the Chitauri and the scepter.” Marzanna grinned and for the first time Amora was scared. The grin was cruel and in all the years she had known the Princess. She had never known her to be cruel. 

“I will tell you nothing.” Marzanna’s eyes sparkled with intent. “I had hoped you would say that.” She placed her hands on either side of Amora’s face. “Last chance Amora. You tell me or I will take it.” Amora held up her chin in defiance. “So be it.”

Amora had never felt pain like what radiated from her skull. It felt as if someone had dissected her brain into tiny pieces and was slowly by meticulously sifting through them. She felt every tug and pull. It was agony. She tried multiple times to form words but couldn’t do it. Finally she made a noise that caused Marzanna to pause. The tears streaming down her face were ignored. “You wish to tell me now don’t you?” She nodded slowly. Marzanna pulled back and settled herself in front of her slumped body.

“Then talk and be sure to leave nothing out.”

Amora spilled every secret she possessed and some that she was not even meant to know. She informed Marzanna of the existence of Thanos and the Other. Thanos’s plan to rule the universe. His obsession with the Mistress of Death and the planets and galaxies he had already offered to her. Amora told her of the Chitauri and where they came from. She managed to gleam every bit of information Amora had. 

The madness inside her pulsed. It wanted more pain, more suffering, and more agony from Amora. The desire to rip Amora to pieces was strong and it continued to beat steadily in the back of her mind. What pulled her back to herself was Amora saying that Malekith of Accursed planned to attack Asgard. She stared hard at the mage before her. “Explain.” 

Amora knew she had hit a sore spot when she brought up Malekith and she readied herself to attack. “He plans to attack Asgard and kill as many as he can before stealing that which is rightfully his.” She watched Marzanna begin to think and she jolted forward plunging her small dagger into Marzanna’s chest. She sat back and smiled because killing the woman was truly satisfying. 

The pain was sudden and sharp. The madness engulfed Marzanna's mind as she slumped to the floor. 

Amora smiled as she watched the bitch slump. It felt great to finally win. Amora stood and started to leave but out of the corner of her eye she caught movement. Then she watched in growing horror as Marzanna stood and pulled the dagger out as if it was nothing. 

“You are going to regret that.” She felt herself freed from the barrier but before Amora could run she was grabbed and flung across the room. When she looked up Marzanna’s eyes were glowing and the power was so thick Amora damn near choked on it. 

“I am going to kill you slowly and then bring you back so I can do it again and again.” Amora startled because no one could raise the dead but her words sounded like a vow. Marzanna saw the doubt on Amora's face. “Oh I can raise the dead and you are going to be the first one I practice on.” She started forward and Amora froze. She was terrified of Marzanna. The malice that pulsed around her and the cruel set to her eyes was unlike any Amora had ever seen before. Not even Thanos looked like this and that man was bat shit crazy.

Marzanna wrapped her hands around Amora's throat and began to squeeze. Amora was dying and trying desperately to loosen Marzanna's grip as she clung to life. Her vision began to fade and she knew that this was the end.

“Marzanna stop!" The eyes that met Loki's glowed with cruelty and malice. "Stop Little One! You are not meant to kill.” Loki prayed that his voice would get through to her as he walked towards his love. “You do not want to give Amora the satisfaction of dying by your hand.” Marzanna looked down at Amora and then back to Loki but her eyes remained glowing. “My love please come back to me.” Loki stepped forward and put his hand on her cheek. He watched her blink and stagger back dropping Amora in heap on the floor.

“Loki?” she asked shakily. He wrapped his arms around her to prevent her from falling. “I am here my love. You are safe.” Marzanna took a shaky breath as she leaned more heavily into Loki's embrace and looked at Amora. “Did I…” “No she still lives.” He felt her power pull back in and he breathed a sigh of relief. At least he had made it in time. "Loki I'm..." Loki shushed her and picked up his precious treasure as she sagged against him. "Sleep Little One I will watch over you." He smiled as she snuggled against him and went completely limp as she drifted to sleep. 

Tony, Steve, Thor, and Hulk had walked into the room just in time to watch Amora stab Marzanna and the young woman to pull the dagger out as if the blow hadn’t even landed. Then all that followed amazed and terrified each of them. 

Steve couldn’t believe he had ever thought she was out of control and not powerful enough to be a part of this fight. 

Tony couldn’t believe she hadn’t beaten him their first go round. 

Thor was shocked that his sister had this much power and yet still believed her control was lacking.

Hulk liked her even more. 

They all stood staring until Marzanna began to fall and Loki caught her. 

Each moved forward to help as they watched Marzanna slump against Loki. Loki smiled at them. “She has that affect on others. She can make you want to jump off the top of this tower one minute and swear your allegiance the next. She is perfect is she not?” They all nodded before they could stop themselves. 

Tony looked over at their tiny warrior who was currently asleep in Loki's arms and came to a conclusion. “So after she wakes up Shwarma.” Steve put his arm around his shoulder. “You have a one track mind but yeah Shwarma after Marz wakes up and you take off the useless suit.” Tony mocked scowled but asked Steve to come help him with it since Jarvis was still offline. 

Liz, Natasha, and Clint came into the living room just as Loki was laying Marzanna on the lone surviving couch. Thor moved to explain what was going on when he spotted Elizabeth. “Elizabeth.” He gasped. “She looked up at him and gave him a once over before motioning him to her.” He quickly moved to her side and she promptly punched him. “You are an ass.” She said before leaving the room. Thor was rubbing his cheek and wondering what he had done. 

“You didn’t tell her you were here did you?” Loki asked. Thor shook his head. “Well that is the problem. You promised to come back and you haven’t. Then we you do finally come back you didn’t bother to tell her.” Thor looked at Loki and went to explain but Loki held his hand up. “I am not the one you need to explain it to.” Thor met Loki’s eyes and moved to find his lady.

He found her on the roof staring at the remnants of the device that had opened the portal. “I am sorry Liz. I would like to explain.” He watched her shoulder hitch but when she turned around face was neutral. “You have five minutes.” 

Thor began telling her of what had happened upon his return to Asgard. “We had to break the Bifrost to save Jotunheim and then Loki fell and Marzanna disappeared.” He trailed off because even though this siblings were returned the grief still burned. “I came here hunting Amora because I…” He didn’t get to finish because Liz softly interrupted him. “You thought if she survived then Loki must have too.” Thor nodded. “You were hoping to find the brother you lost.” Again Thor nodded and he felt her hand gently touch his face. “I understand Thor. I would move mountains to find my brother so I understand.” 

He could see the sincerity reflected in her eyes and knew that she had forgiven him. “I am still sorry. I never meant to cause you pain.” She looked up at him and stroked the area she had punched a few minutes before. “It’s fine. You are here now. You are uninjured and I get to meet the siblings you told me so much about. Welcome back babe.” He leaned forward and gently pressed their lips together. It was good to be back.


	11. The Avengers

Shwarma was actually pretty good. Tony would now have to make this a regular stop for him and any of his teammates he could convince to move into the tower with him. They all headed back to the tower after eating and sat around the ruined penthouse drinking. 

Steve stood and raised a glass. “To Coulson.” All of them followed suit except Marzanna who looked terribly confused. Steve looked at her and then it dawned on him that she had been thrown out of the ship and didn’t know about Coulson. “He died trying to stop Amora.” He told her. She shook her head. “I know its hard to…” He didn’t get to finish. 

“He isn’t dead.” She stated confidently. They all looked at her and Tony started to speak. “Look when I met each of you I learned you signature or aura so I would know if you were ever in trouble. I learned Coulson’s because he was nice to me.” She shrugged. “I assure you Coulson is still alive.” 

All of them were shocked but Tony quickly asked Jarvis to check into it and the next day when Jarvis found that Coulson was indeed alive Tony almost couldn’t deal with Marz’s smug attitude. “Okay you were right.” Marz laughed. “Left a bad taste in your mouth didn’t it.” Tony smirked. “Yes.” 

The both burst out laughing but turned once Thor and Loki entered the room.

“It’s time to go Little One.” She nodded before turning and hugging Tony. “I will miss you Tony.” Then she handed him a pendant. “You can adhere this to your suit. It is a way for you to call me and by extension Loki and Thor if you need us.” 

He took the gift and grinned at Marzanna. “I will miss you too so hurry and deal with Spooky Witch so you can come back.”

Watching Thor, Loki, and Marzanna take Amora back to Asgard with the tesseract was relatively uneventful. It was sad to see them go but Tony hoped that soon they would be back to stay for a while. 

*******  
Tony had invited Bruce to stay at the tower and the man had accepted. It helped that staying at the tower meant staying away from SHIELD but Tony wasn’t passing up an opportunity to live with a fellow scientist and friend. 

He had extended invitations to both of the super spies but time would tell if either of them accepted. 

Steve was the last one he had extended and invitation too because he didn’t want to seem too eager to have the man under his roof. Steve had looked him in the eye and paused. Tony had known he was going to turn him down flat. 

“So when do you want to come help me pack?” Tony felt like his jaw hit the floor before he recovered to answer. “How about now?” Steve had smiled and told him to follow him home. The talked and packed and then stopped to eat but it was easy being around Steve. Tony hoped it stayed like this.

When they finally got him packed and moved Steve wasn’t quite prepared for the amount of luxury that came with living in the tower but it was too late to back out now. Plus the look on Tony’s face when he had accepted was his favorite one to date. Also having the small man in his space helping him pack and talking had been easy and fun. 

Steve couldn’t wait to enjoy the little things with Tony. It hit Steve while he was setting down his last box that wanting to enjoy the little things with someone was pretty damn serious and he panicked for a minute. 

He stopped panicking the moment Tony walked over and hugged him and said “welcome home Steve.” He felt warm and fuzzy as he returned the hug and he could get used to this.  
*******  
Fury had meant every word he had said to the counsel. The Avengers were a message. A message to every person, nation, and world that Earth was not to be trifled with. The Avengers were dangerous and everyone knew it. 

“So when are you going to tell them that Agent Coulson is alive?” 

The question startled him as much as the person asking it. He turned to watch Marzanna walk up and stand beside him. “I.”

“Before you lie to me know that my power is tied to death and I am aware the Coulson has not met the mistress yet.” He stared at her but found only truth in her eyes.

“I wasn’t going to tell them.” She smiled. “I know that’s why I did it for you.” 

Fury rolled his eyes but had come to expect nothing less from her. She moved to walk away. “Oh and take this.” She threw a package to him. “What is it?” 

“A way to contact me if you ever need. I won’t be gone for long but you do seem to attract trouble.” She waved and was gone.

Fury stared down at the device and shook his head. A promise indeed.


	12. Stoking the Fire

Thanos was not shocked that the woman had been wrong about the tenacity of humans. Many races had appeared weak until threatened but it hadn’t stopped him from crushing each and every one of them. These humans would be no different.

“To challenge the humans is to court death.” Thanos stood at the mention of his love’s name. 

Oh he did love courting death every chance he got. It had also not escaped his notice that a great power had spiked during the woman’s failed attempt to wage war on the humans. 

Earth was turning out to be far more interesting than he had anticipated. He grinned. He loved when it was entertaining.


End file.
